All's Fair When Love Is War
by MarineLullaby
Summary: Clary and Jace have hated each other since High School, but everything changes the morning after the night of their college graduation. "You know what they say, Clary; all's fair when love is war." Let the battle commence. AH and a little OOC. R&R!
1. Liquid Confidence

**A/N: I don't own MI :(**

**So, I'm back with a new story! I promise I'm still writing Kismet- the new chapter is being written (almost) at this very moment. I'm excited about this one- really looking forward to a good bit of Jace and Clary mind-effery :) Let me know after reading this chapter if you want me to continue writing! It's a long chapter to start with, but they wont all be this length. BTW, I got the general story line from a friend of mine. She actually went through this situation and it's just too good not to write about :) **

**Moderate Language Use; No hardcore descriptions of sex scenes (I can't write them to save my life anyways). I was going to rate it M but because of this I decided T would be okay. Everyone is over the legal age for alcohol consumption in America.**

**Happy reading!**

* * *

**All's Fair When Love Is War**

**Chapter Song: Liquid Confidence- You Me At Six **

**CPOV**

Hangovers are God's way of getting a good laugh out of you.

True fact.

You know how he gets those laughs? Through sunlight, that's how. I mean _sure_, it might do some good things like help plants photosynthesise so we can breathe and not die a painful death- blah, blah, blah- but even the thin slivers of light that were filtering through my eyelids were making my head throb. Seriously, sunlight and hangovers are a deadly combination that I'd give anything to avoid, but I suppose I should have thought about that last night. How much had I actually drank? I didn't remember, but my bubbling stomach and lack of said memory was telling me it was a hell of a lot.

_Stupid fucking useless curtains, _I growled inwardly. I wasn't usually one to swear much, but I was feeling more than a little fragile. I jammed my eyes tightly shut and swung my legs out lethargically from under the duvet. I found the floor after a few seconds of dangling my legs aimlessly above the ground and rolled on to my feet, holding the wall to support my still drunken body. Hesitantly, I opened my eyes a little, shielding them with my hand to spare me from the brunt of the sun blast I was bound to get and saw that, as I expected, I hadn't actually remembered to close the curtains before I fell in to bed earlier that morning.

'Of course.' I grumbled and yanked the fabric closed, glaring at the curtains as though they had personally offended me. I wanted nothing more than to fall straight back in to bed and sleep for the next ten years just to make sure that the next time I opened my eyes, I wouldn't feel like I'd been ran over by a truck. With a resigned and completely exhausted groan, I threw myself back down on to my mattress- immediately wishing I hadn't because the throbbing increased tenfold. I winced and stopped moving for about a minute before groping for the covers. Instead, I came in to contact with something completely solid.

_What the hell? _

I pulled my hand away quickly, like whatever was in my bed had given me a third degree burn. Very slowly, I turned over and peeked under my eyelashes at the offending object. There wasn't really much for me to see- only the smooth skin of someone's neck that was currently covered over by one of my pillows. I frowned to my self as I glared at the exposed skin. I wasn't sure why Isabelle had crashed in my bed last night but who else would it be? I sighed and propped my self up on to my elbow.

'Izzy,' I whispered hoarsely, shaking the lump of her body through the duvet. She didn't respond so I rolled my eyes. If I was going to be awake then so was she, damn it.

'Hey Izzy. Wake up.' I said a little louder, poking her side through the duvet. There was a groan from beneath the pillow and she tuned sleepily on to her side, facing away from me. As she did so, the pillow shifted from her face to the floor and-

_Wait a second,_ I thought, _that is_ definitely _not Isabelle_.

There was a boy.

In my bed.

_There was a boy in my bed_.

Alarm bells started peeling through my head- the imaginary racket making me wince again. I scrunched my eyes tightly together. What the hell was I doing with a boy in my bed? Or a better question might have actually been _'how the hell did I get a boy in my bed?'_ Once again I opened my eyes and peeked at my bed mate. The duvet had shifted from his torso to reveal a toned, tanned chest that screamed for me to touch it. My hand twitched at my side but I flinched away from the thought because, quite frankly, when you don't know a guys name that's kind of a creepy thing to do. I forced my greedy, sleep-deprived eyes to wander up to the guy's face.

From what I could see, he had one of those perfectly defined jaw lines that most males would kill for but the rest of his face was almost completely hidden by a disarray of blonde hair and his forearm. I couldn't help but notice that his slightly swollen lips pouted as he slept. I grinned beside my self, wondering if my own lips were just as puffy.

I stared at him for a couple of seconds longer before I caught my self and sat up in bed, completely forgetting about how exhausted I was supposed to be. I scratched my head thoughtfully, trying to remember what the hell had happened last night.

I remembered going to Pandemonium with my roommate and long time friend Isabelle and the rest of our friends so we could celebrate finishing college in one piece. Clubbing had never been my scene until I met Isabelle. In fact, most things hadn't been my scene until I met her. You _could_ say I was a total hermit, if you were going to be mean about it.

Over the years at school and college with Isabelle, she'd transformed me in to something you could quite possibly describe as a 'confident twenty one year old who knows what she wants', but only on certain days of the week. Monday through Thursday I was still the same scrawny pushover I had been all through high school, but as soon as the weekend arrives, I'm in my element. True, my element has had me become quite well acquainted with my toilet bowl over the last few years- a lot of the time, alcohol doesn't agree with me- but I've had some great times regardless. I hoped for my sanity that last night was one of those great times.

I looked back to the boy with my eyebrows pulled together. _Who are you?_ I thought desperately, but I came up short once again. It wasn't like me at all to bring random strangers back to my room. That wasn't how I worked, so this was indeed a rare moment in my life. Was it wrong that I felt weirdly proud of my self?

Probably.

…_Definitely_. I rolled my eyes.

I'd only had sex with one person before, and that was with my long time boyfriend Zach, and even then we'd waited a year. We'd met when I transferred from Idris High to St Xavier's High School, New York, in my junior year and had dated until just a few months ago when I caught him in bed with the girl he'd been 'tutoring'. If I was honest with myself, I knew it was happening but it didn't stop me from being completely destroyed. The idiot had had the indecency to turn up at my door with a bunch of flowers begging me to take him back. I threw the flowers at him and slammed the door in his face. Whoever said red heads have a fiery temper was speaking the truth, in my opinion.

I was pulled out of my memories when the boy groaned and turned over. His arm hit my stomach lightly and I stiffened. That tribal tattoo up the length of his forearm was far too familiar for comfort. I wriggled away from the arm and vacated the bed so I could pull on my bathrobe, feeling suddenly uncomfortable about only wearing a pair of frenchies and a guy's- _the_ guy's- dress shirt. I eyed the boy dubiously as his hand shifted to his face so he could rub his eyes.

"Crap," He mumbled under his breath as he shifted himself to a sitting position, "Jack Daniel's is not my friend."

I froze, unable to speak or move. Very slowly, recognition dawned on me like I was seeing clearly for the first time that morning. I was suddenly sober.

"Oh my God…" I whispered. It couldn't be true. It couldn't be _him_ in my bed. No matter how drunk I was, I would never allow him to come home with me. Hearing my voice, he turned his head slowly and my fears were confirmed. At the same time, our eyes widened and jaws dropped, but he was the first to regain some kind of sense.

"Fray?" he asked gruffly but the horror and plain shock in his voice was clear. I stiffened and narrowed my eyes, feeling the anger boiling my blood. It simmered unpleasantly just beneath my skin.

"_You_," I hissed in reply, my fists balling at my sides.

Jace Herondale might have looked like some kind of sun God on the outside, but inside he was black as night. He'd made my time in high school and college a living hell. I despised him with all my heart- but there he was. Naked in my bed. We both seemed to realise this in the same moment and he held up a hand, ready to stay my reaction.

He was too late. That moment was also, unfortunately, the precise moment I started screaming.

* * *

_Twelve hours earlier…_

"Voila!" Isabelle said with relish. She grabbed hold of my hips and spun me around to face the floor length mirror.

"What do you think?" she asked excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet with a grin on her face. I appraised my reflection with a smile. I looked undeniably good in my little black, skin tight lace dress and my black suede ankle boots. My hair was styled in loose waves down to the centre of my back and my makeup was dark and smoky, with bright crimson lips. I smiled at Isabelle's reflection in the mirror and she clapped her hands happily.

"I knew you'd love it! This is the perfect outfit for your first night of freedom."

I looked at her outfit. She was wearing a matching dress to mine, but the lace was white. Her hair was styled in a purposely messy up do and her makeup was more understated than usual, but her bright red six inch heels said she meant business. As always, she was an alabaster goddess.

"You look almost tame," I grinned. She laughed and grabbed her tube of mascara, leaning past me so she could apply another layer.

"That's the look I'm going for. Do you think it's too wallflower?"

I shook my head and moved out of her way to lean against the doorframe. She could never, ever be a wallflower, even if she tried her hardest. She just oozed confidence and sex appeal; so much so that it occasionally got her in to trouble. But I wouldn't give her the satisfaction of reminding her of this.

"Not at all." I said simply.

"Good. Okay, I'm done. Let's go be sociable!"

I grabbed hold of my clutch from the desk and followed her through our apartment. I heard the not so quiet drone of voices and music coming from the living room and grabbed hold of Isabelle's hand quickly.

"Who exactly did you invite?" I asked her quietly. She smiled and shrugged, giving away immediately that she was up to something.

"The usual people." she said dismissively and sauntered in to the living room. I frowned as I followed her. The usual people really only consisted of her brother Alec, his boyfriend Magnus and Simon but there was far too much noise coming from the room for it to only be them. I looked around as I entered and spotted all of the usual suspects, plus our friend Sebastian and two other girls. One was Maia who was perched on Simon's knee with a bottle of beer already in hand and the other was Aline. I frowned to my self at the sight of the latter; she was one of those people that are like a bad smell that _never goes away_.

"Hi guys," I said with a big smile that was only slightly forced. It could have been worse- Isabelle could have invited _him_. Then I'd really have reason to complain. I received a scattered 'hey' back from everyone and went to sit beside Simon on the couch. They all looked happy enough, especially Alec who had a glitter covered, Technicolor Magnus draped around his shoulders. I nudged Simon in the rips and he grinned at me.

"You look great," he commented. I smiled and gave him a swift once over.

"You're not looking too bad yourself. I can't believe you're wearing a shirt. Who are you and what did you do with my best friend?" I teased. He shot me a look of mock hurt.

"Your words burn me, Clary. If I had my way, I wouldn't be wearing it but Maia made me."

"Good call. I was starting to think he'd never take off his Super Mario tee." I laughed.

Maia smiled wickedly and took a swig of her beer.

"A good bit of _persuasion_ can work wonders," she said, grabbing hold of Simon's hand. From the other side of the room I heard someone spluttering.

Isabelle was sat beside Sebastian, shooting glares at the couple beside me. Her arm was linked with Sebastian's and he was saying something very quietly in her ear that didn't seem to be making her feel any better. I looked back to Simon but he was staring at his knees with a shameful look on his face. Maia seemed oblivious.

Izzy and Simon had been dating on and off since our second year at college and now that Simon was seeing Maia, Isabelle was determined to have him back- for good this time. I raised my eyebrows at her but she just shrugged and frowned again.

"I'm going to get a drink. Anyone else want one?" I announced as I stood up, motioning for Izzy to follow me in to the kitchen.

"Two beers please," Alec piped up with a smile. He'd been less than friendly to me when we'd first met, but now I was almost as close to him as I was to his sister. I grinned and looked to everyone else. Sebastian waved his beer bottle at me with an easy grin.

"Want anything?" I asked Simon. He shook his head 'no'.

"I'm not drinking tonight."

"Prude," I laughed and turned to Aline who ignored me. I rolled my eyes.

"You want a drink, Aline?" I asked. She looked over me slowly before nodding.

"Vodka, lemon and lime."

"Fine," I said and swept out of the room in to the kitchen, Isabelle hot on my heels. She closed the door behind herself and leaned against it.

"My genius plan doesn't seem so genius anymore." She huffed, crossing her arms across her chest.

"And what exactly was this plan?" I asked as I went to the fridge and yanked out four beers and the bottle vodka. I tossed one of the beers to Isabelle and moved to her side, twisting the cap on my own.

"Simon wasn't supposed to invite Maia," she said sullenly. I nodded knowingly and took a swig of my beer.

"He was supposed to finally admit he's in love with me and ask me out tonight instead of just tip toeing around me then getting with her like I don't even exist. Can't you talk to him? He's your best friend." She moaned before downing half of her bottle in one. I sighed and patted her shoulder.

"Weren't you seeing someone else too? Meliorn or some weird name like that?"

She made a 'pfft' noise and waved her hand dismissively.

"There's nothing in it. He was just something to stop me from obsessing over Simon. He was a bit weird, anyway; always wanted to try on my shoes…"

I bit my lip to stop from laughing and tried to shove away the images in my head.

"It's your fault," Isabelle continued, paying no attention to my struggle to stay cool, "This whole mess with Simon, I mean. I wish you hadn't introduced me to him properly. In high school he was just the dorky boy with broken glasses but now he's…"

"Now he's still a dork but with a better haircut and contacts?" I offered with a helpful smile. Isabelle laughed too and nodded slowly.

"I guess so."

"Who'd have thought the head cheerleader would fall in love with the band geek? It's like Finn and Rachel in _Glee_, but without the catchy songs and dance routines." I mused, earning my self a swat to the arm from Izzy.

"You get weirder everyday." She told me matter-of-factly before grabbing Alec and Magnus' beers and leaving the room. I laughed softly, took another swig of my beer and moved to the counter to make Aline's drink. The music from the living room poured through the now open door and I smiled. I danced my way around the kitchen trying to find an empty tumbler and the limes.

I felt someone watching me just as I dropped the slice of lime in to the glass. I didn't bother turning around to see who it was; there was only one person who could make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up like that just by looking at me. My eyes narrowed infinitesimally.

"Jace." I said blandly, grabbing the bottles and putting them back in to the fridge.

"Hello, Fray. Don't you look ravishing?" He said with a hint of a sneer in his voice. I rolled my eyes at him and grabbed my bottle so I could take a gulp. I leaned against the counter and glared at him as the gulp somehow turned in to me downing the full bottle and slamming it down on the counter. Neither of us flinched at the noise. We didn't break eye contact for a long time.

"Why are you here?" I asked him, finally breaking the silence. He grinned slowly- it probably would have been really sexy if I didn't find him so repulsive- and took a step away from the door so it could swing closed. He crossed to the fridge and pulled out two beers. He twisted the cap open on one as he placed the other beside me on the counter. It was a safe distance away so he wouldn't have to come close to me, as always. We'd been like this for as long as I could remember; always keeping at a safe distance from one another. Neither one of us knew what kind of things we'd do to each other if an argument started up and we were at close range. Death would be imminent, I was sure.

His, preferably.

"Isabelle and Alec invited me. I'd have thought that was obvious."

"Don't be an ass with me Jonathan. Not tonight."

Jace raised an eyebrow at me; he hated being called Jonathan.

"I wasn't aware I was being an ass, Fray. I was merely stating the reason for my presence here." He smiled, sickly sweet.

"You do realise you sound like a pretentious dick when you talk like that?" I asked in the most polite voice I could muster. The smile on his face widened, revealing his set of white teeth. They were almost perfect, save the small chip in one. I smiled inwardly, knowing that I was the one who gave it to him; that I was the one who ruined his stupidly perfect face.

_That's what you get for messing with me_, I thought, thinking back to the day in our senior year when I finally snapped at him and punched him in the face. He'd spread a vicious rumour about me and Simon that I didn't really care to think about.

"I didn't know you knew what pretentious meant. I'm impressed." He drawled. I grabbed my new beer and Aline's vodka and stalked towards the door.

"And I'm bored of talking to you. Later, Herondale." I called over my shoulder as I entered the living room, leaving Jace alone in the kitchen and smiling happily because I'd got the last word in for once. Usually Jace left me in a blubbering and confused mess; this was a milestone, I could tell. I handed Aline her drink and watched her sniff it like she was checking it for poison.

"Oh, get a grip. I haven't drugged you." I snapped before flopping between Sebastian and Izzy, shooting the latter a glare that could have withered flowers. She had the audacity to look innocent.

"What's got your panties in a twist?" she asked. I snorted and raised my eyebrows at her.

"That's the most stupid question you've asked all year." I growled. Sebastian laughed beside me and I shot him a glare. It only made him laugh harder and he tossed one arm around my shoulders, squeezing me lightly.

"Jace is here?" Alec asked, smiling briefly at the arrival of his best friend. Magnus snickered.

"Joy. My life is now complete; the golden pain in the ass has arrived." He said dryly. I smiled weakly at him and he gave me a playful wink.

"Damn right he has. I'm debating whether I should shoot him now or give him five minutes to prove he's not just going to contaminate my air all night." I grumbled.

"As if I'd get close enough to contaminate your air." The subject in question drawled from the doorway. He looked at me with that special mix of annoyance, impatience and dislike that he reserved especially for me. I felt flattered that he expended the energy for me.

_Sarcasm, thy name is Clarissa Fray_.

"I'm glad because I just ran out of disinfectant this morning and the drug stores will be closed now. It's best you keep a safe distance away. I don't want to change again. I like my outfit." I spat back. Jace sneered and took a long pull from his bottle as he planted himself beside Alec on the sofa.

"You're going out dressed like that? Man, I thought you would do a lot of things, but I didn't think you'd resort to prostitution. We all know tuition fees are pricey but there's this wonderful thing called a job, and if you work hard enough the nice people will pay you money _without_ you taking your clothes off." He patronised. My eyes narrowed to slits and my hands shook in fists. Isabelle took hold of one of them and squeezed it as Sebastian tightened his grip on my shoulder.

"That's enough, Herondale."

Generally Sebastian and Jace were good friends- they'd played baseball together for the college team and had both studied History- but Sebastian would always be the first to arms if Jace took things too far.

And just then, he had.

"Defending her again Sebastian? I didn't think you were the type to pay for sex. She must be good."

"Jace," warned Isabelle, Alec and Simon at the same time. I glared at Aline as she edged closer to Jace, laughing softly and eyeing him with a predatory hunger in her eyes. He didn't even seem to notice. He was too busy sneering at me.

"You know something Herondale? You're the biggest ass I've ever met in my life and you deserve every bad thing that has ever happened to you. God help the girl who ends up with you. She'll have my sympathy." I said loudly, my voice trembling.

"So will the guy who ends up with you. I don't know how Zach did it for all those years."

That was it.

"Ass,"

"Bitch,"

"Dick,"

"Dick? That's it? I've come across decomposed bodies that are more insulting than you."

"That's funny, because I've seen decomposed bodies that are more attractive than-"

"Oh for Christ's sake, will you two just shut up?" Magnus half yelled. He untangled himself from Alec in that weird, long limbed graceful way he had that reminded me of a spider and stood with his hands on his hips. He looked between Jace and me- we were now standing as if we were doing the whole 'guns at dawn' thing- his bright eyes burning with annoyance. I let out a breath I hadn't realise I'd been holding and folded my arms across my chest.

"Why can't you be near each other just once without committing a capital offence? The sexual tension between the pair of you is _so_ not funny anymore."

"What?" Jace and I hissed at the same time. Both of us looked like someone was waving a particularly rotten tuna fish under our noses. Magnus grimaced.

"I guess I'm the only one man enough to talk about the absolutely huge elephant that plods in to the room whenever you two are together." He sighed, shaking his head so a wave of glitter fell to the floor. Jace raised an eyebrow, silently asking Magnus to enlighten us.

"Isn't it obvious? You two have it bad for each other – have done for years. I suggest you screw each other and get it out of the way, or pretend the other doesn't exist." He said sternly. I made a gagging noise and pulled a face.

"First, I don't like Jace in any way, shape or form. Second, I'd rather pass a kidney stone than sleep with him." I griped.

"Me and Fray? You've got to be kidding me. I know I'm stunning and all, and she'd be lucky to get near a bed with me, but I'm only human." Jace said, looking absolutely appalled.

"Oh, c'mon. Any similarities between you and the human race are purely coincidental." I shot back. He went to say something else but Magnus smacked him upside the head. Jace rounded on him, fists clenched, but Alec cleared his throat loudly and Jace grimaced, looking apologetic.

"_They_ might not have the balls to tell you," Magnus tossed his head in the general direction of our friends, "but I'm sick of it now. You two are making everyone feel uncomfortable. Play nice, just for one night. Today is a special occasion after all. We finished higher education! You should be drunk by now, not having hissy fits and verbal jousting competitions." Magnus finished, before sitting back down beside Alec and resuming his conversation.

I took Magnus' advice and went to the kitchen to get more beer.

* * *

Heavy trance music pounded around me as I span and swayed as though I was in a dream; I could feel the tremor of the bass pass through the floor and up my legs making it feel like my whole body was vibrating. My chin was tilted to the sky, a drunken smile creeping on to my lips as I ran my fingers idly through my long hair and let the alcoholic haze completely take over me. Hundreds of people were dancing around me, all in that weird, dream like manner. Everyone one of us looked distorted because of the bright white strobe lights shattering through the club, making our movements jump and flicker like we were nothing but white noise. I laughed at the thought, earning my self a huge grin from Izzy.

She was dancing with some random guy, her hips twirling and swirling suggestively and he looked like he'd just hit the jackpot. Even though I was stupidly drunk, I had the sense to follow her hand and see that her little finger was linked loosely with Simon's, who was dancing behind her with Maia. I shook my head and continued dancing, unable to care. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Aline and Jace tangled together in a less than modest embrace, and suddenly the ability to care came crashing back to me- hitting me with the force of a tonne of bricks in the process. I actually stumbled back a step as I watched them making out. Jace seemed to feel me watching him and he grinned wolfishly, looking me hard in the eyes before bringing his lips to Aline's neck. Blinding fury shot through me unexpectedly, and suddenly I wasn't drunk enough any more. I found my self turning and pushing my way through the crowd on the dance floor towards the bar.

"What can I get you?" the bartender asked as I pretty much fell against the bar. He was cute, with a dimpled smile and messy brown hair. I smiled and hopped my self on to a bar stool as gracefully as a girl can when she's drunk and wearing a stupidly short dress, then took out a ten dollar bill.

"How many vodka shots can I get with this?" I drawled, waving the note in front of his face. He laughed and took the bill from me.

"Three and a buck change. That okay for you?"

"Perfect," I nodded. He poured the shots, lined them up on the bar then looked at me expectantly.

"So, are they all for you?" he shouted over the music. I grinned and nodded as I tossed the first back. The spirit burned my throat, but it wasn't in an 'oh my God I want to be sick' kind of way. It felt weirdly good. I reached for the second shot and positioned it at my mouth.

"Sure this is a good idea?" Mr Cute Bartender asked.

"I have images I want to burn from my brain. This is a good way of forgetting since I decided that actually setting my self alight wouldn't be all that fun." I explained matter-of-factly in my drunken slur. He smiled again.

"Boyfriend giving you trouble?"

I shook my head 'no' and tossed back the second shot. This time I grimaced but I could feel the drunken rush taking over me again. It made me feel warm to my core, and I didn't seem to care about how annoying Jace was anymore- not that I cared in the first place. All I wanted to do now was join the crowd again and dance until I thought I was the only person left in the world.

"No boyfriend."

"Oh, right." he paused and raked his hand nervously through his hair. I bit my lip a little, wishing I could do the same…

"So do you think I could get your number? I finish my shift in a half hour, maybe we could meet up… dance a little?"

I opened my mouth to reply but I was cut off almost instantly.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," a smooth voice said from behind me. A pair of strong hands grasped at my waist and I felt a tingle shoot up my spine. For a second I leaned back in to the person's warm body, revelling in the scent of sunshine mixed with whisky, before I realised who it was.

"What are you doing Herondale?" I scowled and knocked back my last shot, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. I grimaced apologetically at the cute bartender but he shrugged before moving on to help someone else. With a huff, I turned- well, stumbled- to face Jace and placed my hands on my hips.

"Look what you did! He was totally asking for my number and you ruined it! You ruin everything!" I half shouted. Jace tossed back some dark brown liquid in a tumbler and arched an eyebrow.

"You don't know that guy. He might want to hurt you." he glared back, crossing his own arms over his chest after he slammed the glass on to the bar. I snorted- one of my more attractive traits, I think- and jabbed my finger at his chest.

"He wasn't going to hurt me you asshat- we were just going to dance."

Jace smiled slowly and took a step towards me. I knew he was up to something, but I couldn't seem to move. I swayed on the spot, mesmerised by that incredibly sexy smile of his.

_The things I could do to that boy, _I thought, before I realised who I was actually fantasizing about and almost gagged.

"If you want to dance, why don't you dance with me?" he asked me, his voice low in my ear. I shuddered again and took a shaky step away from him.

"I'd rather share a bed with an incredib… a _really_ pissed off alligator…" I whispered. Jace laughed and took another step closer. I tried to shuffle backwards again but I hit the bar and he blocked me in with his arms.

"You'd probably stand less chance of getting hurt with the alligator." He said. His face was dangerously close to mine now. This was new territory. He was so close, closer than he's ever been to me before- and I was drunk enough to be okay with that. A nervous giggle escaped my lips so I pursed them shut tightly.

"You going to hurt me, Jace?" I asked him- no, I _flirted_ in a low voice, looking up at him with daring eyes. I was flirting with Jace Herondale, and I wasn't gagging. For a moment, I was sure the apocalypse had come at last but when he leaned his head in so his lips were right beside my ear I forgot all about how much I loathed him, and concentrated solely on the smell of sunshine coming from his skin and the soft caress of his breath on my neck.

"Only if you want to be hurt, Clarissa." He whispered and I swear to God I almost whimpered in ecstasy. I felt his mouth curl up in to a smirk against my neck and his lips gently swept over the skin just below my ear.

"What about Aline?" I said heavily, struggling to keep my hands to my self as his mouth explored my neck.

"What about her?" Jace mumbled. I bit down hard on my lip to stop from making any inappropriate noises as he moved his mouth to my collar bone.

"I still hate you," I said. He nodded against my flesh and looked up at me with those tawny eyes without his lips leaving my flesh.

"And I still hate you too," he promised. His mouth inched up my neck again and when he reached my chin, he pulled his lips away and rested his forehead against mine.

"But that doesn't stop you from being the hottest girl I've ever seen," he said quietly. I looked in to his eyes and was glad that his hands were holding me up because I swayed slightly, feeling light-headed from the shots- or was it his kisses? Jace smirked and moved his mouth far too slowly towards mine. I waited in anticipation; my chin tilted slightly upwards and my eyes heavy, lidded with lust. He pressed his lips cautiously against mine for a second and then pulled me closer to him, effectively deepening the kiss. My hands snaked around his neck and fists curled in his hair of their own accords as my entire body seemed to buzz with excitement. I had no control over what I was doing with the boy I so openly despised but that didn't even matter. I was full to the brim with liquid confidence and it felt good.

Far too good.

Finally, we pulled away from one another, panting like crazy but both smirking a little bit. Jace looked me over with smouldering eyes before he grabbed hold of my hand tightly and pulled me towards the crowd of dancing people without another word.

* * *

**Reviews are great- you know the drill!**

**ML**


	2. I Caught Myself

**A/N: MI is not mine, but this plot is**

**Hello! Thank you all for the great feedback! I can't believe I got like 17 reviews in only a couple of days :) You're all too kind. Right, next chapter is here and it's a little bit of a filler for the stuff to come so I know nothing _much_ happens but I thought it was okay. Also, I'd really like some reader suggestions for the kinds of stuff C&J can do to each other to get one up on each other. Some playful, petty stuff and maybe some bigger stuff that will help ze plot thicken? I have my own ideas obviously, but I love getting suggestions from other people. Cheers guys :) review review review!**

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**Chapter Song: I caught my self - Paramore **

**CPOV**

"WHAT ARE YOUDOING IN MY BED?" I screamed as I tossed one of my pillows at Jace. He knocked it away with a lethargic swipe of his arm and groaned.

"What the hell is happening?" he growled, rubbing his forehead with the palms of his hands.

"Get out of my bed Herondale!"

"Why are you shouting? The shouting hurts." Jace moaned. I threw up my hands, exasperated.

"Because you're naked in my bed!"

"For your information, I'm wearing boxers." He said sleepily, looking at me out of the corner of his eyes with that goddamn pirate smile of his. The sight of it sent a shiver down my spine that wasn't entirely unpleasant and my legs felt weaker than they had done before. I felt the blood drain from my face in shock and blinked rapidly.

"See?" he continued, pushing down the sheets. It was true. He was wearing boxers. I looked for exactly half a beat longer than I should have done and he picked up on it, the perceptive creep.

"See something you like, Fray?" he muttered half heartedly.

I made a loud huffing sound and swore at the top of my voice as I wrapped my arms around my torso.

"I don't see why you're getting all pissy." He said through a yawn when he realised I wasn't going to answer him. I laughed loudly; it sounded a little hysterical.

"I swear I would call you stupid but it'd be an insult to stupid people! Get out of my goddamned bed before I have to burn the sheets with you still wrapped up in them." I hissed. He sighed and rolled himself very slowly out of the bed.

"Fine. I need a glass of water anyway." He huffed and shuffled out of the room.

"I'll be wanting that shirt back, by the way." he called over his shoulder as he wandered out in to the hallway. Instead of replying, I ripped the shirt off and threw it at the back of his head. He didn't turn around, but I heard him laughing.

"_Damn_," I whispered to myself, running a hand through my tangled hair. What the hell had I gotten my self in to? Had we had sex…? Flashbacks of last night raised their ugly heads and I remembered laughing, dancing, drinking (far, _far_ too much), and kissing Jace but I still didn't remember anything after leaving Pandemonium. All I knew was that when Jace had kissed me, something seemed to click in to place. I blushed and shook my head then wandered in to my bathroom and stripped my underwear so I could take a shower, fully intending on scrubbing away any evidence of him from my skin. I gasped as I caught my reflection in the mirror; my lips were puffy and red, but it was the things on my neck that drew my attention. There were two large welts on either side of my neck, each of them glowing an angry shade of red tinged with purple. I prodded them gingerly and winced before stumbling in to the shower, thankful for the healing powers of hot water.

Twenty minutes later I padded in to the kitchen, rubbing my wet hair with a towel. Isabelle was sat cross-legged on a chair, gripping a mug of coffee in one hand and her cell phone in the other. She was already dressed in her work uniform- she'd taken on a full time job at the D&G store on the high street while she looked for an internship at a fashion designer's- looking like she hadn't drunk herself in to oblivion last night.

_Bitch,_ I thought resentfully. I hated her uncanny ability to bounce back after a night out.

Jace was stood with his back to me at the counter, still only wearing his boxers and seemingly busy with something. I shot a half hearted glare at his back and flopped in to the chair opposite Izzy. She smiled knowingly up at me, raising a slender eyebrow as she looked over her shoulder at Jace.

"Good morning sunshine. I see you look happy to welcome the day." She said brightly, her face almost splitting with the size of her grin.

"Oh yes, I'm delighted." I scowled, squinting my eyes against the light coming through the bay window in the kitchen.

"I take it you had a good time last night? Lots of fun? Meet anyone _special_?" she teased, her smile growing impossibly bigger. She bit on her bottom lip quickly when she started to giggle and looked back around her shoulder to Jace. He still had his back to us, but he looked tense. I heard the click of the kettle.

"Oh shut up." I snapped back and rested my head on the cool wood of the table. Isabelle laughed again and patted my head.

"Seriously, what did you two get up to? You just disappeared."

"Absolutely nothing," I said quickly, earning myself another meaningful look from Izzy. I rolled my eyes and put my head in my hands.

"You sure about that?" she probed.

"Yeah. I mean, at least I think nothing happened." I frowned harder and glanced back to Jace.

"Wait a second… we didn't… Y'know…?" I directed the broken question to him, feeling a bubble of panic and desperation to know rising in my throat.

"Have sex? You don't remember?" Jace asked, turning around finally. I shook my head 'no', feeling mortified. He let out a long sigh and ran a hand through his hair.

"How quickly you dismiss our love making," he said dryly. I grimaced. Did that mean we had done… _that_? I felt like a little kid again. All of a sudden sex was back to being a dirty word and pronounced with each letter separately.

"Oh my God," I whispered as Izzy gasped loudly. She looked between the pair of us, her expression torn between amusement and genuine shock.

"You hussy!" she exclaimed jokingly, prodding my arm with her pointer finger. I whimpered- half because I'd had sex with the enemy, and half because I couldn't remember the experience. I mean who _does that_?

Me, apparently.

"I can't believe this," I whispered, feeling tears pricking at my eyes. Jace snorted and picked up a freshly made mug of coffee and two aspirins and placed them in front of me on the table.

"Calm down Fray. You're safe. We didn't have sex." He snickered, pulling two bagels from the toaster and placing them on a plate beside my coffee. I glared at the breakfast, then at him.

"But you just said-"

"Call me old fashioned, but I don't tend to have sex with women when they're _unconscious_."

"_Unconscious?_" Izzy and I spluttered together. I glared at my friend as she burst in to a fit of laughter and she straightened her face, pushing her empty mug away sheepishly.

"This is my cue to leave," she mumbled and scooped up her bag and car keys then hurried out of the apartment. I took a deep breath and grabbed my own cup of coffee, looking up at Jace with a grimace. He kept my stare as he sat himself down in Izzy's empty seat and took a sip from his own cup.

"So, this is nice," he grinned after an awkward minute of silence.

I spluttered in to my coffee, "Yeah. Nice. So when are you leaving?"

"So eager to get rid of me Fray?" he smirked and plucked one of the bagels from the plate beside my elbow. He took a bite, still looking at me with those smouldering amber eyes.

"Well, yeah actually. I have things to do today and unless you've forgotten, we can't stand the sight of each other." I pointed out as I tossed the aspirin in to my mouth and washed them down with a sip of coffee. Jace shrugged nonchalantly and leaned back in his seat.

"I don't know; I can look at you just fine but when you open that pretty little mouth to talk… not so much." He teased. I rolled my eyes and we sat in silence for a while.

"So what's with the breakfast?" I asked when I'd finished with my food.

"Figured you'd need a decent hangover fix."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

"You're not your self today. I recognised the improvement immediately but seriously, that's kind of nice of you."

"I'm always doing nice things for you. You just don't notice." He said seriously. I rolled my eyes and picked up our used crockery so I could put them in the sink.

"_Nice things for me_?" I asked dubiously as I perched myself on the unit, "You've spread lies and rumours about me, you've hurt my feelings, you've blamed me for the stupid stuff you've done but never once have you done anything nice for me so don't feed me this crap Jace."

"I'm not feeding you crap. I told you; you just don't notice." He frowned.

"Name one nice thing you've done." I dared with narrow eyes.

"I told people to back off when they wouldn't stop laughing at you because of that rumour in senior year." he said as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Which particular rumour are you talking about? If I remember rightly, there were a lot." I said bitterly.

"The one about you sleeping with the art teacher and bribing him to give you the money to get it sorted."

_Ah. That one._

"Jace… you started that rumour in the first place." I snapped. He inclined his head to the side and grinned.

"Yeah, but I stopped it as well. I think that counts as being nice."

"I nearly got expelled! Mr Hirst nearly lost his job, his wife and his two children! My mom went absolutely crazy when she got the phone call from the school, and when the _police_ got involved-"

"Okay, okay," Jace cut in, "I get the message. Maybe that wasn't a great example but I have more."

"This should be fun," I rolled my eyes and raised my eyebrows expectantly.

"I paid for your formal dress-"

"After you destroyed the original because you're more scissor-happy than a ten year old."

"I sold those paintings for you last year-"

"Your grandmother made you do it and you wanted the commission."

"Well I did make Zach back off after you broke up."

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Yeah, he was telling everyone that he was going to get back with you and then leave you hanging because he wanted to have the upper hand."

"He said _what_?"

"That guy is a real piece of work. I can't believe you even went out with him in the first place. You deserve better." Jace muttered. I shook my head and sat back down at the table, looking at Jace like I'd never actually seen him before in my life.

"Why would you do that for me?" I asked quietly. He shrugged and looked away. I wasn't sure, but I swore I could see a hint of a blush creeping up on his cheeks.

"I guess I was feeling charitable that day. Don't you have things to do?"

"I-uh… I was just going to head down to central park and paint."

"I'll get out of your way then." he said quickly and made his way out of the kitchen. I tugged on a wet lock of hair with a grimace, battling with myself internally. On the one hand, I'd hated this guy for years but… something about last night changed my opinion on him. Yeah, he might still be an arrogant jerk but that jerk had made me breakfast, at least. And that jerk happened to be unbelievably hot…

"Wait…" I stammered and stood up from my chair. Was I really going to do this? I could almost feel my dignity leaking from my ears.

"Yeah?" Jace raised an eyebrow as he looked at me over his shoulder.

"I don't suppose you'd um… like to come along?"

_Yep. There goes my dignity. _

Jace looked at me for a second, confusion written plainly on his face before he leaned against the doorframe and jerked his head up and down.

"Sure."

"I mean, it would be boring for you but it's better than doing nothing all day." I rambled, pulling on my hair again. I couldn't look at him.

"I agree."

"I understand if… wait, did you say yes?" I backtracked.

"I did. What time were you thinking of heading out?" he asked.

"Um… as soon as I get changed."

"Sounds good." He smiled and left the kitchen.

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Jace bumped my leg with his knee lightly and I looked away from my sketch book, raising my eyebrows. He smiled as he swiped it from my hands and studied it carefully.

"This is good." He praised, tracing a long finger over the picture before settling the book in the grass between us.

"It's just a doodle." I shrugged as I looked at the page. All I'd drawn was a face with the eyes being the only features. The eyes seemed to smoulder and I knew that if I'd brought my water colours, the irises would be rich gold. It made me uncomfortable to know that I'd unconsciously drawn Jace's eyes when he was sat right beside me.

"So… I'm sorry about last night. I must have been a handful," I blushed as I watched a couple stroll hand in hand past us. Jace laughed quietly and shook his head.

"You were something else. You certainly kept me entertained, that's for sure."

"Oh God. What did I do?"

"Well you did seem to think that the ATM was a slot machine." He grinned wolfishly as my eyes widened.

"I thought it was a-?"

"A slot machine, yeah. When the money came out you kept screaming 'I won! I won! Third time this week!' at the top of your voice. A couple tourists thought you were street entertainment and one guy told me I should get you sectioned." He laughed. I couldn't help but join in, shaking my head. We sat in a weirdly comfortable silence for a while and I continued drawing what I knew would definitely end up being Jace's face. He twirled a blade of grass between his fingers, the picture of ease.

"So, we kissed." Jace said eventually, his voice heavy. I didn't look up from my sketch pad but my pencil paused mid stroke.

"We did." I said carefully. Jace fidgeted with his hands and tossed the blade of grass away before tipping his head back and looking up in to the clear blue sky. The sunlight made his hair look like it was made of pure gold.

"And what do you think about it?"

I looked over at him and frowned.

"I don't know… I was drunk. This is so weird." I said honestly.

"Yeah. Weird." He scratched his head and flopped on to the grass with his eyes closed, "I don't know what it is about you Clary. You make me so pissed off most of the time but… I don't know. I had to kiss you last night."

To both our surprise, I laughed and flopped down next to him.

"What?" he asked, sounding kind of offended.

"I think that's the first time you've called me 'Clary' since the first day I met you." I smiled. I turned my head so I could look at him. He opened his eyes and I could see the curve of his mouth as he smiled.

"I think you're right."

"Hey, can I ask you something?" I asked.

"Shoot."

"Why do you hate me? I mean, what did I do when I first met you that ticked you off so much? I've never understood it."

Jace closed his eyes again and pushed out a deep breath.

"If I told you I'd have to kill you. That's the rules." He said flatly.

"Jace-"

"Fray." He said tiredly and I snapped my mouth shut.

"Fine, but we're adults now. Maybe we should try and actually be friends instead of plotting to kill each other every other day."

"I think we do the whole mortal enemy thing quite well. Why spoil a good thing?" he teased and I hit him in the stomach.

"Seriously, hating you takes up too much energy and it screws up my karma and now I know you can actually be kind of bearable-"

"Can I kiss you again Fray?" Jace asked quickly, cutting off the rest of my sentence. My entire body froze and even my breathing stopped. Very slowly, I turned my face back to his with my eyebrows pulled together to find that he was frowning at me too, like he was torn between actually kissing me and running for his life. My mouth opened and closed a few times before I managed to get out a choked 'whatever'.

Jace's face edged cautiously towards mine as though he was gauging my reaction very carefully but I lay frozen. I didn't move towards him- I wasn't even sure if I wanted to do this. Nothing about this situation was rational, but hadn't all sense of rationality disappeared earlier when I'd asked him to come here with me?

Nothing made sense, and it was freaking me out.

Jace's lips brushed against mine for a second before his cell phone started to ring loudly from his jeans pocket and he jerked away, his mouth open like he was shocked at what he was about to do. He pulled out his phone and answered it quickly, cutting off his ringtone. He shot me a weird look before he put it to his ear.

"Yeah?" he snapped in to the receiver. I could vaguely hear someone's voice on the other end of the line, and who ever it was seemed to melt Jace. He relaxed a little and smiled.

"Hey Alec. What's up?"

I sat up as he had his conversation, running my hands through my hair in agitation. This felt so…

Fuck. I couldn't even truthfully say being with Jace right now felt wrong.

"Ah, crap. I forgot all about that. Tell her I'll be there in a half hour. Later." Jace grumbled and flipped his phone shut and shoved it back in to his pocket. He cast me a glance and stood up.

"I have to go."

"Oh," I said quietly. I couldn't explain the sinking feeling I suddenly felt, "Where you off to?"

Jace kicked a stray rock before answering.

"I have to meet Aline." He grimaced.

"Oh," I repeated, but my voice was firmer this time. I tried to force a smile but my face didn't seem to want to play that game and I ended up scowling. I suddenly felt extremely angry. I mean, how _dare_ Jace think he could get away with kissing me all night, almost kiss me a minute ago and then go running off to his girlfriend like it didn't matter? I might not like Aline but she didn't deserve this.

"I hope you have a good time." I snapped and ripped out the completed sketch from the pad and tossed it to his feet. He looked down at his face on the paper with wary eyes.

"Wait, what's wrong with you?" Jace called after me as I stormed away. I stopped still with a sigh and turned slowly, my eyes flashing.

"If you don't get what's wrong with me, you're depriving a village somewhere of their idiot."

"Fray-"

"My name is _Clary_, asshat, and right now would be an excellent time for you to become a missing person." I spat before I turned my back on him again and left the park.

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**So what'cha think? Review!**


	3. No One Does It Better

**A/N: I'm not Cassandra Clare.  
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**Thanks for all the reviews- I tried to reply to as many as possible but I'm sorry if I missed someone out :\ 34 on the second chapter! Wow, you guys never cease to amaze me! Keep up the reviews, I love to know what you all think :)**

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**Chapter Song: No One Does It Better- You Me at Six **

**JPOV**

"Where the hell did you _go_ last night? I was looking for you for over an hour." Aline snapped in that God awful nasal voice she has when she gets pissy. I swear it could make a freaking statue of Jesus roll its eyes, so I figured I was good to roll mine too.

"I told you. I was with Clary." I said through gritted teeth. Either she was deaf or I'd just imagined explaining it at least five times in the last half hour. Whatever the reason, she was jumping on my last nerve like it was a trampoline. She looked at me pointedly before grabbing her receipt from the cashier and stuffed her newly bought roll of black and white camera film in to her shoulder bag. She grabbed hold of my elbow and led me out of the store before forcing me down on to a nearby bench and put her hands on her hips.

"I heard you the first, like, _million times_ Jace," ah, there went _those_ theories then, "but what I don't understand is _why_."

"Aline-"

"Just shut up for a second, okay? Someone needs to get this through your thick skull. You and Clarissa Fray? It's _not going to happen_. She whipped your stupid ass in high school and you've been lagging along behind her ever since. If she still hasn't noticed that gooey look in your eyes every time you're near her, she never will. It's getting really pathetic, Jace! You need to get over it and move on."

I rolled my eyes again. Like I hadn't heard _that_ before; it was Alec's favourite mantra. Even Magnus and Sebastian joined in sometimes when I was feeling particularly sorry for myself.

It was true, I guess, even if I didn't want to admit it. Ever since we'd first met there'd been something about Clary that had immediately drawn me in- probably that she was the only girl, other than Isabelle, my Mom and Grandma, who actually called me on my bullshit. Within a day I was hooked on her- dim I know- but none of that mattered in the end. I was young and stupid; I knew I was good looking and that I could get any girl in the school without putting in a thimble of effort. Hell; I was still young, relatively idiotic and possibly even more stunningly attractive than I was back then (in the most modest way possible, of course) but there was one huge difference in my twenty one year old persona from the sixteen year old I was. I now know how to flirt with the girl without calling her- and I quote- _'a skinny, carrot topped mega douche'_. Clary scared the hell out of me. No girl made my heart spew in to my mouth like she managed to make me do.

The second Isabelle introduced Clary to me my mouth took over so I was on auto-pilot- a totally dangerous setting for me. I just couldn't stop insulting her. After a while she started insulting me back and that's how it stayed. A couple months later she ended up hooking up with my supposed best friend Zach who'd known from the beginning how I felt about her.

I kicked his ass. Clary hated me even more after that.

"I know." I said darkly. I pushed my hair out of my eyes so I could slide on my black Ray Ban's as Aline sat beside me with a frown. She pulled out her camera- it was one of those hideously expensive ones that I knew I'd destroy just by looking at it because I'm oddly talented like that- and started fiddling with the focus.

"I don't think you do," She said distractedly, "otherwise you'd have done something about it by now."

"C'mon, Aline. You _know_ how hard it is just to let this go. I mean, we've talked about it enough."

Aline glanced at me out of the corner of her eyes and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear with a sigh.

"Look, you know how I feel about her but if you really love her as much as you say you do, why don't you tell her? It's been six years, Jace. Don't you think it's time? And besides, if she says she likes you too, we all win."

"Um, I see how I might win but what would you gain from this?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. She shrugged.

"I'd be able to move on and find myself a boyfriend instead of tagging along with you when you need it. I know from experience that guy's don't like it when their girlfriend takes to kissing her friends on a regular basis, even if it is just to make someone jealous... remember Harry? Yikes..."

I rubbed my jaw absently, watching what looked like the entire world going by.

Then I clicked on to what she was saying and my hand dropped.

"Wait... what do you mean by 'move on'? You don't still..." I stuttered, looking at her completely horrified.

"Don't be dim Jace," Aline scoffed, "Do you think if I still liked you I'd let myself be used like that? I was doing you a favour, that's all."

"Oh thank God," I said heavily. She shot me a narrow look and I backtracked. "No offence meant to you, of course. I owe you like, a lifetimes worth of servitude for helping me out with this but I'd feel like even more of a douche about even asking if I found out you'd only been hanging around because you liked me."

"Don't flatter yourself, hon." Aline smirked, "It might hurt you to hear this but I kind of just enjoy spending time with you. Well, that and the fact my editor totally eats up the portraits of you when I bring them in. He's such a perv..." she added thoughtfully, spinning her camera in her hands.

"Besides, I tried my luck with you once and it didn't work out. I'm not the type to obsess over someone. Especially a someone who's in love with someone else. No one stood a chance with you after she showed up at school." She finished, nudging me with her elbow. I smiled and dragged myself up from the bench so I could kick her foot.

"Hey! These cost more than your entire outfit put together. Damage the Choos and I'll damage you, Herondale." She said seriously but I just laughed.

"Whatever, shall we bounce?"

"Sure. I want to get this shoot done with so I can get in to the dark room by seven. I'm gonna be in there all night as it is... these old school black and white films take forever to develop."

"Think we'll definitely be out of the studio by then?" I asked as I pulled out my phone.

"Probably; might get out even earlier if you can pull off moody model in a few frames. Why?"

"I have something I want to do tonight, too." I said as I tapped in a quick text message. Aline watched me suspiciously, a small smile creeping up her face.

"Oh? What's that?" she asked, like she didn't know what was going on already. I just smiled to myself and slung my arm loosely around her shoulders as we made our way down the sidewalk towards her studio.

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**CPOV**

"Wait a second; run this past me again. I'm not sure I understand." Izzy said as she shovelled a spoon full of Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey in to her mouth. I sighed and shoved my own spoon in to the pot, pulling my eyes away from _The Notebook_.

"Again? Haven't we been over this like… seven times already? You must get it by now." I grumbled through a mouthful of ice cream.

"Just explain again."

"Fine," I sighed, "I got annoyed after Aline called him so I told him he's an asshat- because he totally is if he's trying it on with two girls at once- and then I told him that now would be a great time to become a missing person. Satisfied?"

"That's all?" Izzy probed.

"Yup,"

"Correct me if I'm wrong here, but this was all because he had to go meet with Aline who he'd completely forgotten about in the first place?" she raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah that's what I said, but-"

"And for the best part of six years the pair of you have tried to destroy each other on a weekly if not daily basis?"

"I know that Iz, but-"

"And on top of all that, he made you freaking breakfast this morning. I'll bet Jace never sticks around for breakfast with people he's actually slept with, never mind someone who passed out in the middle of his wooing attempts."

"Well, when you put it like that-"

"Yeah when I put it like that it makes you sound like a complete douche. Overreaction much, Fray?" Izzy smiled.

"Don't call me that. _He_ calls me that all the time." I pouted, scooping up another mouthful of ice cream. I hated admitting she was right.

"_He_ has a name." Izzy said pointedly.

"I know," I rolled my eyes dramatically; "I just prefer to mentally screen it from my memory."

"You're so childish."

"You think so? I think I'm more irrational than childish. I could have stomped my feet and stuck out my tongue but I didn't." I pointed out. It was the truth; I _could_ have done all of those things but I stopped myself.

But _oh_, how tempted I'd been.

"No. You stormed away instead after calling him an 'asshat'. Speaking of which, you totally need to tell me what the definition of an asshat is one day. Is it like this giant hat in the shape of a butt? Or like a hat that you cover your butt with? 'Cause if it's the second one we have underwear that does the same thing, thus making the concept of a hat for your ass irrelevant."

"Finished?" I asked dryly.

"Quite." She smiled and popped the spoon in to her mouth again. I let out a long breath and rested my head on her shoulder.

"This totally sucks. Why do boys have to be so stupid?" I frowned. I was confused and annoyed- at myself mostly for falling in to whatever little trap Jace had set up for me. It was obvious that was what he was doing; trapping me. I was willing to bet he and Aline were having a good old laugh over it right that second.

"Jace isn't stupid."

I laughed humourlessly, "No, he's just possessed by a retarded ghost."

Izzy snorted and somehow managed to choke on a mouthful of ice cream. I patted her back gently.

"You alright?"

Izzy nodded and shoved her spoon towards me. I swatted it away lethargically; one more bite of ice cream and I'd quite possibly explode.

"Want to know what I think?" she said once she'd regained the use of her airways again.

"I'm not sure, but I guess you're about to tell me anyway." I said flatly.

"I think you're both complete idiots. Magnus was right; Jace's blatantly been in love with you for years and you're obviously a complete douche for not realising it when, believe me when I say this, the entire population of the world figured it out in about ten seconds flat." Izzy waved her spoon at me menacingly with her eyes narrowed. I rolled my eyes and let out a heavy breath, shaking my head.

"Jace doesn't love me in any sense of the word, and he never has."

"I swear blind people see more than you do. Christ Clary, open your eyes once in a while or at least pull your head out of your sketch book. There's a whole other world out here that's different to the one in your head and you never know; you might like what you see."

"You're being totally ridiculous and besides, if Jace liked me like that why wouldn't he just say it? He never had any trouble telling other girls, like Aline for example." I shot back, starting to get seriously irritated again.

"Please, you seriously think those two have a chance of being more than friends? They're both too conceited to consider going out."

"Ah, so that's why I see them enjoying a good old game of tonsil hockey every time I'm near them?" I said sarcastically. Isabelle snorted.

"Oldest trick in the book. They're trying to make you jealous; I play that game with Simon on a regular basis."

"Why on earth would he need to make anyone jealous?"

"Did it ever cross your mind that you might make him _nervous_?"

"Jace Herondale doesn't get nervous." I said stubbornly, crossing my arms over my chest.

"I've known him longer than you have Clary and I hate to burst that wonderfully dull and ignorant bubble of yours, but he-"

_Buzz_

Izzy's tirade was interrupted by the sound of the door bell and I let out a sigh of relief. Maybe there was a God after all. I looked briefly to the ceiling, smiling to myself and giving the Big Guy a discreet thumbs-up.

_Buzz, buzz_

"Pizza!" I exclaimed happily and jumped to my feet, racing towards the door with a twenty already in hand- it had been stuffed in the pocket of my pj short's since we'd ordered an hour ago. The buzzer went again just as I reached the door.

"Give me a sec!" I called out as I scrambled for the deadbolt. I slid it back with a stupidly happy smile on my face and pulled open the front door.

"So how much do we-?" I began, brandishing the twenty like it was some kind of bargaining chip but I stopped mid sentence, completely dumbfounded.

Unless the guy in front of me had gotten himself a pizza delivery job on the sly- highly unlikely for little Mr Rich Pants over there- I was at a complete loss as to what he was doing here. I looked at him for a second, noticing immediately that he was definitely sans pizza box and jumbo bottle of diet Pepsi, and then I let out the universal sound for confusion.

"Huh?"

"Hi," Jace said, his face all happy and smiley as usual. Damn him and his dimples.

We stood in silence for about half a minute before he cleared his throat and waved his hand in front of my eyes- which just so happened to be handily transfixed on the hideous potted plant on a hall table just behind him.

_Note to self_, I thought bitterly, _obtain hammer and smash repulsive plant pot in near future_.

"Can I help you?" I asked politely, but in my head I was screaming something along the lines of '_what the hell are you doing here you horrible, idiotic, beautiful, perfect example of all that is good about the male species?_' It was weird how Izzy and I had just been speaking about him and then- _poof!_ There he was! Speak of the devil and the devil shall appear and all that crap, I guess. I knew he was seriously messing up my Karma.

"I was, uh... I was just wondering if, maybe, you'd like to come for a walk with me. I have something I need to tell you."

I stared at him in silence again for a good twenty seconds, taking in his sincere appearance and that nervous smile and wondering if this was more of his elaborate attempt to trick me. I mean, I knew I'd overreacted this morning but I still wasn't entirely sure if I should trust him. I mean we really, really disliked each other. Talk about your melodrama.

"I'm watching a film with Izzy." I said lamely, but at least it wasn't a yes or no.

My ability (or lack thereof) to make up my mind astounds even me sometimes.

"Well, can I come in and we'll talk after it's finished?" he asked as a crease appeared between his eyebrows.

"I don't think so..."

The crease grew deeper.

"So you're saying you don't want to talk to me...?"

"No." I said before my brain had time to catch up to my mouth. I shook my head quickly and backtracked.

"I mean-"

"So you _will_ talk to me?"

The crease grew deeper still. Wow, he was confused. I sighed.

"Yes, I'll talk to you. It's just... we have pizza ordered and a movie to watch and I kind of promised Izzy we'd have a girly night. You know; pizza, ice cream, sad films, gossip-"

"How long does it take to pay for a pizza? Seriously, Clary, I'm withering away in here." Izzy grumbled as she shuffled in to the passage. She stopped as she saw Jace but didn't look too shocked to see him there at all.

"Hi Jace! Sorry if I'm interrupting something..." she trailed off, waggling her eyebrows suggestively at me like some old vaudeville villain.

"You weren't." I said shortly. Jace looked from me, to Izzy, then back again and sighed. He propped himself against the doorframe and crossed his arms. A sudden thought cross my mind, a memory from the night before; Jace leaned against the doorframe of my bedroom, his hands roughly pulling my waist towards his and his mouth brushing against my neck. I remembered the slight rub of stubble from his jaw, the heat of his body...

I blushed an alarming shade of fuchsia and my hand went straight to one of the hickeys on my neck. Jace had the decency to look embarrassed and turned his attention to Isabelle.

"Look, Iz, I know you and Fray are having some kind of sorority house pyjama party but do you think I could borrow her for an hour? Two, tops. I promise to bring her back in the same condition she's in now."

"Sure," Izzy said brightly. I glared at the traitor.

"But pizza... hungry..._Ryan Gosling_!" I whined. Jace waved me off.

"I'll give Isabelle the money for the pizza and buy you some food when we're out. How does that sound?"

"Painful." I said heavily. I gave Izzy a 'keep your stupid mouth shut' look and told Jace I'd be back in a few minutes- I wasn't traipsing around the city in my Hello Kitty jammies for anyone.

I shuffled, frowning, in to my bedroom- giving my doorframe a glare as I passed through it- and yanked on a pair of skinny jeans and some old band tee I had lying around in one of my dresser draws. I peeked my head out of the window and felt the humidity outside. Like _hell _I was putting on a jacket. I slipped my feet in to my converse, yanked a brush through my tangled curls and inspected my face. It was clear and smooth, but I had tired circles beneath my eyes from lack of sleep the previous night. I huffed and grabbed the bottle of concealer I rarely used and rubbed some in to my skin- the circles looked a little better- and I quickly swept my lashes with mascara before grabbing my shoulder bag and shuffling back in to the corridor.

Jace was still leaning against the doorframe, talking to Izzy with a smile on his face. He looked completely relaxed. Izzy's arms were crossed and she had one eyebrow cocked but she smiled when she noticed me approaching.

"Alright you crazy kids, you have fun now. I want her back at eleven thirty sharp or momma will be breaking out the shot gun." She said as she ushered us through the door and tossed my keys at me. I short her one last look of uncertainty before she slammed the door in our faces.

* * *

**JPOV**

Taki's was empty when we arrived, except for the chef with the horn tattoos on his forehead and the weird bushy beard, and the waitress Kaelie. Man, I couldn't believe she _still_ worked here- she'd had this gig since we'd left high school. Weird Beard nodded once when he saw us come through the doors but Kaelie smiled as soon as she caught my eye and clattered over in her heels, looking entirely too eager to see me.

"Jace! I was just thinking about you the other day. I haven't seen you in so long!" she gushed, grabbing a hold of my elbow and dragging me to a two-seater booth. She took up the second seat, leaving Clary standing alone and confused by the door. I shot Clary a grimacing look and she raised her eyebrows, her lips quirking in a smile.

"Um, that's nice and all, but do you think you could let Clary sit down now? We're kind of hungry." I asked as nicely as possible, but I didn't need to watch Clary giggling to tell that I must have sounded constipated or something. Kaelie gave me a weird look then stood up, shooting Clary daggers.

"It's nice to see you again, too, Clarissa. I wasn't aware you and Jace were... friends." Kaelie said, her voice dripping in ice and insincerity. Clary shrugged noncommittally and sat down opposite me, grabbing the menu so she could hide her face.

"Do you guys know what you're ordering?" Kaelie asked a minute later. She'd breathed down my neck the entire time I'd inspected the menu I already had memorised.

"I'll have a tray of fries and the special." I said. I looked at Clary and she placed her order. Kaelie trotted off to the kitchen and Clary let out a relieved sigh, running a hand through her long hair.

"Why is it that your adoring fans are never too happy to see me around?" she said with a smile but I couldn't tell if she was joking or not.

"Because they're not happy seeing me happy when they're not involved," I replied flatly, staring just over her shoulder at Weird Beard who was giving me a thumbs up. Clary looked at me carefully for a moment before plucking a bread stick from the basket in the centre of the table and taking a bite.

"So, you had something important to tell me? Personally, I don't see how anything could be important enough to drag me away from my jammies and Ryan Gosling but... whatever. This was your call." She met my eyes slowly, waiting for me to say something.

"Who's Ryan Gosling?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, easily dodging her question. Now I was here I wasn't so sure about telling her. Maybe it really was better for me just to pretend I hated her and get on with my life. Clary gaped at me for a few moments as though I'd just asked the most outrageous question in the world.

"Who's Ryan Gosling? _Who is Ryan Gosling?_ He's the reason girls even bother to watch The Notebook! Do you think we just sit down and think 'Oh, I feel like having a good cry today'? No. We watch it to look at him and only him and if _anyone_ gives you another reason, they're hideous liars." She blurted.

"Oh," I smirked, plucking the breadstick from her fingers and taking a bite of it myself. She frowned and snatched it back.

"Get your own."

I laughed at her attempt to sound stern and folded my arms across my chest, leaning back in the seat.

"So is he a babe?" I mocked and Clary rolled her eyes.

"I can't believe you don't know who he is."

"Well, in case you haven't noticed, I _am_ a guy."

"_And_? I bet Alec and Magnus know who he is and they're guys." She pointed out, waving the bread stick at me as though it was a wand or something. I had a sudden vision of her in a pointed wizard's hat and jam jar glasses and laughed loudly. She shot a weird look my way, like I was going crazy or something.

Maybe I was. I was in love with her, after all.

"Alec and Magnus are gay." I said after the laughter had died down a little.

"So?"

"_So_ that means they're allowed to perv on other guys."

"I bet you know who Brad Pitt is and _he's_ a guy." She folded her arms too, her lower lip sticking out a little in a pout.

"'Course I know who Brad Pitt is. Who doesn't? Man, Fight Club is a kick ass movie..."

Clary clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes.

"Please. Ocean's Eleven was far better."

"How can you even say that?" I shook my head with an incredulous look on my face.

"Because it's true."

"Please stop! Your blasphemy is making my ears bleed!"

"Only because you can't handle the truth!"

"At least I don't have hideous taste in movies." I said indignantly- and yes, I was aware that I was starting to sound like the spoilt little brat Clary had always accused me of being.

"Well, at least I don't have hideous choice in clothes," she shot back, sounding just as bratty.

"Take that back!" I said in mock hurt, a smile curling up at the corner of my lips. I was very much aware that I had impeccable taste in clothing- Magnus saw to it that I did otherwise he wouldn't come near me and therefore Alec.

"I don't think I will," she smiled back and popped the rest of her bread stick in to her mouth just as we heard the _click, click, click_ of Kaelie's heels on the tile floor. She placed my food in front of me with a smile then dumped Clary's burger beside it before making her way back to the kitchen with a moody flip of her hair. I rolled my eyes.

Clary and I sat in silence for a while so we could eat but I could tell by the look on her face that she was mulling over the possible reasons I could have brought her here. I decided it was about time I swallowed my pride and got it over with. Quick and painless, that's what they said, wasn't it? Just like ripping off a band aid.

Or was that quick and pain_ful?_

Whatever it was, I was about to find out.

_Here goes nothing..._

"Clary..."

* * *

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	4. Apply Some Pressure

**A/N: I do not own TMI or any of the affiliated characters/plot devices. They belong exclusivley to the wonderful Cassandra Clare.**

* * *

**Chapter Song: Apply Some Pressure- Maximo Park  
**

**CPOV**

It had been a week.

It had been seven full days.

It had been one hundred and sixty eight irritatingly long hours.

It had been ten thousand and eighty excruciating minutes.

It had been _six hundred and four thousand, and eight hundred_ totally _suckish_ seconds.

It had been all of those agonizingly large numbers since Jace had dropped his exceedingly large bombshell on me. In reality, it wasn't even just a bombshell; that word doesn't do the sheer velocity of the situation justice. It was more like the _nuclear frickin' holocaust. _

For the entire week I hadn't been able to concentrate on my clients for thinking about what he'd said. I'd been caught out day dreaming four times today already, and it was barley lunch time. What had gotten in to me? I was usually completely focused at work- the majority of the paintings I was trying to sell were either my own or my mom's so it wasn't like I could afford to lose the commission- but there I was, gazing at the prints like some kind of comatose five year old who'd come down from a sugar high of epic proportions; drool and all.

"_Clary, I'm in love with you."_

The words spun around my head. The first thing that had come to mind after he'd told me was '_ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, HA! Good one Jace-y boy!_' and then I'd laughed out loud, spitting bits of my ham burger all over the table because I'm actually that attractive. Then, of course, I'd seen a look on his face that I'd never seen before; his eye's dropped to the table, his lips turned down in to a frown and he fidgeted with his hands. Jace never fidgets. I struggled for a few moments trying to figure out what he was feeling and then the word popped in to my head.

He was _upset_. Well, I'd say _more_ than upset really. Mortified might have been more fitting.

But still, me being me, I kept on laughing because that's what I do when I get nervous or confused and at that moment I can honestly say I was both of those things.

The second thought that swept through my not so socially aware noggin was '_Holy Crab Sticks, he's serious_.' And I finally stopped laughing. I know; thank God. I finally engaged the brain cell. But to what end, you may be wondering?

Silence. Absolute silence. For maybe five minutes. And then I came out with the money maker.

"_Burger!" _

I too am constantly surprised by the sheer awesomeness of my (not so) firm grasp of social skills, but what can I say? I must be a natural. My first word _was_ 'button' after all.

I'm pretty sure Jace just stared at me like I was a blathering idiot for another five minutes before he pushed his tray of fries in to the centre of the table and smiled that horrible, sexy slow pirate smile of his.

"_I'm making you nervous." _He'd said with a grin but that was a no brainer if I'd ever heard one. I stared back at him with a look that plainly said '_No-fucking-duh'_ but it only made his smile wider.

"_You like me too,"_ he stated confidently. I shook my head and stuffed my burger in to my mouth, feeling my cheeks go red. I didn't know what I felt about him then, at that precise moment in time, but if he was to ask me again now, after I'd done nothing but think about him obsessively for the past six hundred and four thousand, eight hundred (give or take) seconds...?

I blushed.

Damn.

I stared at the wall in the staff room at the Gallery, holding my sandwich in a Vulcan death grip. I could sense the new girl (I hadn't bothered learning her name Monday morning) looking at me like I was a big ol' sack of crazy, but you know what? I couldn't find it in me to care. I was having some kind of epiphany here and I had a feeling it would be kind of stupid to ignore it.

Maybe I did like Jace.

Maybe I... maybe...

"_I'm going to make you love me, Clarissa Fray."_

My train of thought vacated my head immediately as I thought about the last things he spoke to me ten thousand and eighty minutes ago.

"_If it's the last thing I do, I'm going to make you love me."_

"_That's not fair,"_ I'd replied weakly. He'd been too close for me to be comfortable, _"You can't make someone love you."_

"_You know what they say, Clary; all's fair when love is war."_

"_Nobody say's that. It's 'All's fair_ in_ love _and _war', idiot..."_

"_Not this time."_

And then he'd gone. Disappeared. Just like that.

Asshole.

I took an angry bite out of my sandwich and frowned- mostly at myself for getting so worked up over Jace Herondale, but partly because I hadn't seen him since then. It's not like I particularly wanted too, either. I just wanted to think of something snappy to say to him then run off like a little kid or y'know, maybe kiss his face off _then_ run away like a little kid. Either way, I wanted to do something then run away, arms flailing; maybe a little manic giggling for the s and g's.

I spent most of my lunch hour contemplating witty remarks and doodling on a napkin. New-girl-who's-name-I-really-should-learn stared at me the entire time so I kept swiping at my face wondering if I had chilli sauce dripping from my chin or something equally as embarrassing. It got old eventually, as you can imagine, so I ended up snapping at her.

"What? Do you want to take a picture or something? It will last a hell of a lot longer."

The girl jumped in her seat and her cheeks flushed crimson when she realised she'd been caught out. I continued to stare at her with raised eyebrows until she pushed her cropped brown hair behind her ears and shoved a pair of glasses on her face.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare..." she mumbled and I rolled my eyes with a huff.

_Urgh_. Can you say _cranky_? It was the only way to describe me lately.

Cranky Clary. That's me. Sigh.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to snap. I've had a... well; it's been a weird week for me."

The girl smiled a little and shrugged.

"I've noticed you've been staring in to space a lot. Not that I've been stalking you or anything..." she trailed off and laughed nervously. I grinned.

"Day dreaming is one of my favourite hobbies. It's so liberating." I said dryly. She chuckled and stuck out her hand across the table. I leaned over and shook it quickly.

"I'm Erin," she smiled. I nodded as if I already knew.

"Clary."

"I know."

I raised my eyebrows. What was it she'd just said about _not_ being my stalker...? Erin seemed to realise what the look on my face meant and blushed even harder. She looked kind of like a beetroot.

Naturally, I swallowed a laugh.

"Jocelyn told me on my first day. Your art is amazing." She backtracked quickly. I blinked and managed a smile that didn't look deranged.

"I didn't realise mom had been in this week. I didn't see her."

Erin shrugged with one shoulder and popped a chip in to her mouth.

"She tried talking to you but you were all spaced out and stuff. It was actually kind of funny." Erin grinned sheepishly. I frowned at my apparently well honed ability to obsess over something so hard that I completely disregard my own mother.

"If you don't mind me asking, what's got you so..."

"Trippy?" I put in helpfully and Erin nodded.

"It's no big deal. I can handle it." I said but smiled my thanks for her concern. Erin raised a slender eyebrow and gave me an incredulous look.

"It's a guy, right?" she asked and I let out a short laugh.

"That easy to see through me, huh?"

"Not really, it just always seems to be a guy." She half smiled and I nodded bitterly. I had just decided that maybe it would be okay to talk about the situation with someone who didn't know either me or Jace when someone yelled my name from the doorway and I almost jumped out of my skin. I spun around on my chair to see Simon striding towards me with a lopsided grin and a box of doughnut holes in his hands.

"For Christ's sake, Simon! I almost... oh, never mind. What are you doing here?" I asked as I span back around in my seat. Erin tilted her head to the side, watching Simon as he took a seat beside me and slung his arm around my shoulders. She raised her eyebrows a little, clearly asking if this was the guy I was having trouble with. I shook my head and grinned.

"Erin, this is my best friend Simon. He's an idiot and has no control over the volume of his voice. Simon, this is Erin. She's cool, be nice to her."

"Why wouldn't I be nice to her?" Simon asked, perplexed. I shrugged and snatched the box of doughnutty goodness, rattling it in his face.

"Because I'm going to offer her some of these and I know how possessive you are over the doughnut holes."

"I'm not possessive-"

"I beg to differ." I said darkly and yanked up the cap sleeve of my black work dress to reveal two thin white scars along my right shoulder.

"Three years ago I ate the last doughnut hole and this what he does to me." I explained to Erin whose eyes were wide. She looked at Simon for a second before stepping out of her chair.

"Don't worry about it; I... have to get back to work. Talk to you later, Clary."

"Bye," I smiled and waved my hand a little in my lap, already holding two doughnut holes ready to stuff in to my mouth. Doughnut holes make everything seem better.

"You scared her off." Simon pointed out as I chewed on the doughnuts happily.

"Nuh ah dihddn'" I said through a mouthful of food. Simon looked at me pointedly and flicked some crumbs off his shirt. I grimaced apologetically for spitting food on him but I was more concerned about the waste than anything else.

"It's a good job I'm use to your grossness because otherwise I'd be running away from you by now. I don't know why Jace has clung on to this little dream of his for so long." He said, taking his own doughnut hole and popping it in his mouth. I swallowed hard and turned my glare to him.

"What are you talking about?"

"He's had a thing for you for years- everyone knows _that_." Oh. Great. _Everyone_ knew. And they couldn't have told me this say... _six years_ _ago_ because...? "And I saw the pair of you fondling each other in Pandemonium last week. You needed to get a room, C."

"Oh, shut up Mr I'm-seeing-Maia-but-I'm-blatantly-in-love-with-Isabelle." I snapped. Simon had the decency to blush.

"Stop changing the subject."

"_You_ stop changing the subject!"

"Okay, how about we just leave both of these subjects alone and get to the part where I spring you from work so you can come do something fun with me?" he said diplomatically. I nodded my head slowly in agreement.

It was a common occurrence on a Saturday afternoon for him to saunter in to the gallery and demand I do something fun (which is his definition of dragging me to the nearest game shop so he could check out the new releases.) It wasn't hard for me to get off work, what with me being the owner's daughter and the fact that we were overstaffed on weekends as it was.

"Right. Give me five minutes so I can let Sheila know I have somewhere very important to be and then we'll go do whatever geeky activity you have in store for me today."

* * *

"If you plugged your nose and your mouth while you sneezed, would it come out of your ears or would your head explode?"

"You know, for someone who majored in Physics in college you ask some of the stupidest questions I've ever heard." I observed dryly. Simon was leafing through the manual of his new game- Final Fantasy ten thousand or whatever number they were up to now- and was slurping loudly on his slushy as I rummaged through rows of CD's.

"It's a completely viable question, Clarissa." He said matter-of-factly and I rolled my eyes.

"Tell you what, if you want to test out your little theory, by all means go ahead, but don't expect me to clean up the mess when you're finished." I said, shooting him a smile. He opened his mouth and then snapped it closed again with a whisper of a smile growing on his lips as he looked just over my shoulder. I raised an eyebrow but he just shook his head and grumbled something about going to look at the band tees. I nodded absently and went back to the CD's.

"Looking for anything in particular?" a smooth voice whispered in my ear a few seconds later. I gasped loudly but didn't turn around- I didn't need too. The hairs on the back of my neck were stood to attention in a way that only happened when a certain somebody was around. I used to associate it with how much I loathed him but now it sent a kind of electric current all through me. My entire body hummed with electricity.

"Something nice and relaxing. I haven't been able to concentrate much lately." I said tightly as I continued to flip through CD cases. My eyes locked with Simon's, who was stood watching from the other side of the shop with a smile, and I glared at him for a moment. It didn't really take a genius to realise that he'd set me up. Simon shrugged and pointed at himself then the exit and waved a tentative goodbye.

_That's right, you better run_, I thought to myself, _I'm going to get you later_.

"Oh? Something on your mind?" Jace asked softly. I could feel his breath on the exposed skin at the back of my neck and it gave me goose flesh all over.

"You know, just the usual; work, rent. Oh and there's this giant pain in the ass I know that has scrambled my brain in to oblivion. Maybe you know him? The pair of you do look weirdly alike." I managed to say in a relatively normal voice but there was a barely noticeable tremor hidden in there and _three guesses_ who noticed it straight away.

"Still making you nervous, huh?" he asked with a soft laugh. He took hold of my hand and turned me to face him. I met his eyes easily but folded my arms across my chest so I had some kind of buffer to protect me from him.

"More like still making me want to rip my hair out by the roots."

"But at least you've been thinking about me." He smiled and I rolled my eyes. That was an understatement if I've ever heard one.

"What are you doing here, Jace?"

He grabbed the logo of his polo shirt between his thumb and pointer finger and waved it at me.

"I work here. Didn't Simon and Isabelle tell you?"

_Conspiring little..._

"Since when did you need a job?" I asked, effectively cutting my venomous thoughts short. I raised my eyebrows sceptically and tried to act normal but my heart was racing ten to the dozen and I felt dizzy with confusion.

"Since I decided I didn't want to rely on my parents for money. There are too many strings attached."

"Like what?"

"Seeing them?"

"You don't get on with them?"

"We get along just fine but I strongly believe that family dinners should be outlawed along with family games night. My family was nearly ripped apart by monopoly when I was a kid. Stupid banker..." he grumbled to himself. I took a small step to the side, trying to get some distance between us since I was having trouble remembering how to, what was it called? Oh, yeah.

Breathe.

"Yeah... so I think I should be going." I said awkwardly.

Remember all of those snappy comments I'd been coming up with earlier that I really wanted to use on Jace? They were all completely gone. Of course, it's very easy to be witty tomorrow, after you get a chance to do some research and rehearse your adlibs, but right now all I could think was a sentence strongly along the lines of '_ooh, you're mighty pretty'_.

With an awkward glance at him, I put down the Death Cab for Cutie CD I'd been holding on too for dear life and side-stepped around Jace, making a beeline for the door.

"Fray!" he called after me and I stopped in my tracks. I didn't turn around because my face was flushed red.

"I'll see you tonight?" his voice was kind of hopeful.

"Tonight?" I asked quietly, holding back a mini heart attack. Was he asking me out?

"Yeah. Isabelle wanted to talk to us all, remember?"

"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot about that." I said, looking over my shoulder at him with no expression. I couldn't help the tiny (monumental) amount of disappointment I felt. Seriously, I had no idea what had gotten in to me. Just a few days ago I couldn't stand the sight of him and now I was getting disappointed about him not asking me out? Christ, can someone telling you they're in love with you change you that much?

Well, obviously it can. Or maybe...

I felt like I was committing a cardinal sin for even thinking this, but hadn't the feeling always been there anyway? He'd always made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Had it taken me this long to figure out that it was attraction and not hatred? Fair enough he was an annoying pain in the ass and sometimes he made me want to hit my head against a brick wall but I had been kind of crushed when the stupidly handsome golden boy had started insulting me in high school.

Isabelle had said '_maybe you make him nervous._' And maybe I had. Going out with his best friend Zach had only been a cry of attention to begin with anyway, but I was sure that any crush I'd had on Jace had disappeared once I decided that I really did want things with Zach to work out.

I guess I always had been great at lying to myself.

"Great," Jace smiled and I found myself smiling back.

"Yeah. See you later," I replied and headed out of the store suddenly determined to figure out what was going on- in my own head and Jace's.

* * *

Five hours later I sat cross-legged on the couch, watching Isabelle as she contorted herself in to all kinds of strange positions while I stuffed popcorn in to my mouth. It was always amusing, watching her attempts at yoga. Well, at any rate it was better than watching reality TV.

"Urgh!" she yelled to the ceiling after she fell to the floor in exhaustion, "If God wanted me to touch my toes, why the hell didn't he put them on my knees? Or my hips? That would be ever better."

I laughed through a mouth of popcorn and tossed a piece at her.

"If you're just going to bitch and moan about it, why do you bother doing yoga in the first place?"

"Because, my dear Clarissa, not everyone can eat like a pig like you do and still keep their figure." She said bitterly, coming to a sitting position on her purple mat. I nudged her out of the way with my foot and she clambered on to the couch. I picked up her mat and rolled it up so I could hide it behind the couch.

"Well I'm sorry your highness, but life just ain't fair. Get up, you need to get showered. The others will be here soon."

"Can you carry me to the bathroom?" she whined, holding her arms out to me like she was a kid wanting to be picked up by their mom. I grabbed her hands and yanked her to her feet, ignoring her yelps of pain.

"Rough it out kid, one day you need to face the big bad world on your own." I teased and pushed her through the door in to the corridor.

"But mom!"

"No buts. Go get showered."

Isabelle shuffled in to her room, throwing me dirty looks as she did so but I just laughed it off and wandered in to my own room. I paused in front of the floor length mirror and looked over my outfit. It wasn't really that much; just a blue and white spotted playsuit with a long golden chain hung around my neck, but my legs were most definitely on show tonight (Isabelle's idea). I shoved on a pair of sandals after uncharacteristically fluffing up my long curls and touching up my makeup, and I made my way in to the corridor just as the doorbell rang. I smiled a little to myself as I slid back the lock, impatient to begin Operation: _Figure out What the Hell Is Going on in Herondale's Head_ or Operation: FOWTHIGOIHH for short.

It needs work.

"Hey," I said brightly when I saw that it was in fact Jace, Alec and Magnus at the door. They all smiled- well, Jace grinned slowly as he looked me up and down and the _others _smiled- and I gestured for them to come in.

"You're in a good mood." Jace observed and I flashed him another smile. Why yes, I certainly was. Why wouldn't I be when I was about to have more fun than I'd had all year?

"That much is a true fact, Herondale. You guys want a drink?" I offered as Alec and Magnus took up their usual spot on the couch. They all nodded and I made my way to the kitchen, making sure to swish my hips a little as I walked. Just as I reached the door, I heard Jace announce that'd he'd go help me with the drinks. Alec and Magnus snickered.

"So how was work?" I asked when I heard the kitchen door swing shut. As usual, the hairs on the back of my neck stood erect and I spun around so I was leaning on the counter, facing Jace with a half smile firmly on my lips. I saw the intrigue on his face immediately- me being relatively friendly to him was kind of new ground for us. I was surprised he didn't realise what was going on right then.

"Boring as hell. I don't think I'm cut out for paid labour." He said easily, walking to the fridge and taking out four beers. He passed one to me but I didn't open it.

"I wouldn't exactly call placing CD's under the right names 'labour', Jace." I teased, taking a small step towards him. He shrugged.

"There's a lot more to working in a music store than alphabetising CD's," he said smoothly, smiling a little.

"I'm sure there is."

"Oh, that reminds me. I saw you looking at this CD today so I swiped it for you." He said, pulling out a small square case from the inside pocket of his jacket. I grinned as I saw the cover art to the Death Cab for Cutie CD I had wanted to buy.

"You stole a CD for me?" I asked softly, only slightly mocking him, "How romantic."

"Well, I didn't steal it. I bought it for you since I didn't think losing my job in my second week would be all that great. I hope you like it."

I smiled again, wider, and crossed the room so I was stood right in front of him. I plucked the CD from his hands and held it to my chest, smiling up at him.

"Thank you. I _love_ it." I said, emphasising the word love to see what his reaction would be. I watched carefully as his eyes dropped to meet mine and a very serious look came across his face- there was no sign of that killer smirk now. I looked back at him, taking in those weird butterscotch eyes. I could feel his breath on my skin and I smiled a little.

"I'm glad." He said gruffly as I took another step closer to him. I reached up and softly took his face in my hands pulling, him down so I could brush my lips very slowly across his jaw and run them up towards his ear. He stiffened momentarily before he relaxed but stayed extremely still. I could hear his breathing accelerating and coming out in little bursts of air and I smiled to myself involuntarily. Very gently, I took the lobe between my teeth and I heard him suck in a tight breath. I felt him trying to turn to capture my lips so I allowed him to bring my face to his but just before his lips met mine, I threw up a finger and placed it on his mouth.

"Uh-uh, buddy. I don't think so." I said in a playful voice. Jace frowned and took a step back, his eyes narrow.

"Clary-?" he began but I got in first, covering his mouth with my entire hand.

"You created the game; we play by your rules." I said with a sly smile.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, genuinely confused.

"All's fair when love is war- remember?" I said, before grabbing my beer from the unit and swishing out of the kitchen, blowing him a kiss over my shoulder as I did.

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**Hope you enjoyed this chapter, review! **

**ML**


	5. My Favourite Game

**A/N: TMI is not mine but this plot is. **

**Once again, thank you for all the amazing reviews. You guy's make my day every time I read one, and I'm sorry if I forgot to reply with my 'thank you's' to anyone.**

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**Chapter Song: My Favourite Game- The Cardigans **

**CPOV**

"Why does he look constipated?" Magnus asked cheerfully as Jace shuffled in to the living room behind me. He handed Alec and Magnus their drinks and I looked over my shoulder to see that his expression was livid and just a little bit panicked. He shot me a look as I planted myself on the loveseat in the corner of the room- the kind of look that would make Medusa's special talent look shamefully bland. I shrugged with an innocent smile and inspected my nails.

"I have no idea." I said. Jace spluttered in to his drink and raised his eyebrows sceptically.

"What?" I asked, raising my own in response, "Do you need a napkin or something?"

"I'm fine. I think I need some pain killers, though. I've got this God awful pain in my ass..." he said sarcastically, plonking himself down beside me even though there were plenty more chairs in the room. I could see the smile curling up his lips and if I didn't know any better, I'd say he was enjoying this.

"Really?" Alec said, his head tilting to the side. He did that a lot when he was confused.

"I didn't think you were in to that kind of thing." Magnus piped up helpfully and I snorted, doubling over with laughter. His timing for one-liners was sheer perfection.

"Shut up Maggie," Jace said snidely, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. Magnus flinched at the nickname, his expression something along the lines of what I'd imagine a person would look like after sucking lemons.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call him that?" Alec frowned, grabbing hold of his boyfriends hand and squeezing it gently.

"Why _not_ call him it?" Jace said stubbornly, crossing his arms across his chest. I took the opportunity to take a piece of my hair between my fingers and I curled it around, looking at him out of the corner of my eyes. He caught me looking and I bit down on my lip ever so slightly, making sure Alec and Magnus couldn't see. Jace stared at my lips for a long moment before blinking rapidly and looking away. I grinned to myself when he subconsciously shuffled a little closer to me.

"Because it's not funny!" Alec said, frustrated.

I snickered a little because actually it really _was_ funny. The nickname had come around in our College orientation week- the first time any of us had met Magnus. The story involved two bottles of tequila, a beer keg, women's lingerie and... Well, I'm sure you can imagine what happened to _Maggie_ over there. Like I said; it was _funny_.

"While I appreciate you standing up for me, don't bother starting an argument with the idiot boy." Magnus smiled, patting Alec's hand gently, "Arguing with him will only allow him to drag you down to his particular level of idiocy and beat you with experience."

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong," I piped up. Magnus arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow at me and I shrugged. Jace offered me a smile but I continued without giving one back.

"You may _think_ he's idiotic, but actually it's all a cunning ruse. True, over the years he's successfully made us think he's so shallow he'd be out of his depth in a parking lot puddle but after closer inspection, the only thing that makes sense is that he's actually a super genius. I mean, no one else would start a war with their superior opposition unless they had some witty ideas behind their back." I said, tilting my head innocently and giving Jace the doe eyes. He grinned and leaned back in his seat, chuckling to himself.

"Clary, hon, that really was a wonderful speech but you do realise we have no idea what you're talking about, right?" Magnus said and I nodded.

"I know." I smiled and took another sip of my drink. Alec shrugged and turned to Magnus who promptly struck up an impassioned speech about the importance of leather in every man's wardrobe. Jace and I sat in silence but electricity hummed between us. I crossed my legs, making sure my foot hit his shin lightly. He turned his head slowly, arching his eyebrow as a dare to do more. I shook my head innocently and moved my foot away from him, laughing quietly as he _tsk_ed under his breath.

"Where's Izzy?" Jace asked after Magnus had concluded his speech. Alec looked completely bewildered and I giggled as I answered.

"Having a shower but she should be done in a minute. Any of you know where Simon is?"

"He's probably playing on Call of Duty at home." Alec offered, "That's what he was doing earlier anyway- he posted a Facebook status about it. '_Simon Lewis just got pwn'd by Nazi Zombies on CoD. Again! FML!'_" He added with a snicker, going as far as to pronounce the abbreviations and exclamation points.

Jace laughed, "Remember when we totally Fraped him? _'Simon Lewis would like to know if anyone has a hammer handy. The girl tied up in my room is screaming and I can't knock her out!'"_

Magnus and Alec collapsed in to a fit of laugher. I swear they nearly spat beer all over the carpet.

"That was you guys?" I asked with my eyebrows raised. Simon had been in hysterics after that.

"Yeah. He should learn not to trust anyone with his laptop. What were we suppose to do?" Jace said. The funny thing was I was sure he was being completely serious.

"Uh... you could have just left it alone." I pointed out.

"Oh, Jace tried." Alec laughed, "I swear, as soon as he saw Simon's page was still open he sat as far away from the computer as possible for about ten minutes. He was getting all twitchy and then he just couldn't take it anymore."

"You lack of self control is alarming," I grinned and Jace flashed a blinding smile.

"It's his fault for being a Facebook whore." he said with a chuckle.

"True; he's totally obsessed. I'm pretty sure that's all he does lately."

"Well, that and Maia." Magnus said with a smirk and Jace burst out laughing. They fist-bumped each other, grinning from ear to ear.

"For your information," a tight voice said behind me and I whipped my head around to see Izzy in the doorway, her arms crossed. The look on her face told me to tread extremely carefully.

"Simon is on his way now. He's not _doing_ anything other than that."

"Yeah, including you." Jace said quietly and smirked. Izzy turned her eyes to him, looking murderous.

"As if you can say anything Herondale. It's not like you're getting any!" Her eyes flicked to me and I felt my face flush crimson. I wasn't embarrassed that she'd said it in front of everyone, but thinking about getting_ horizontal_ with Jace made me come over all... _unnecessary_.

"Who say's I'm not?" Jace asked with a grin, winking in my direction.

"Please, Clary _'hates'_ your guts." Izzy scoffed and I blushed even deeper. _This_ time I was embarrassed.

"Yeah," I said weakly and shrank back in to the loveseat, fiddling with the hem of my playsuit. Izzy grinned and I saw Jace looking at me out of the corner of my eyes. He looked determined to prove that that wasn't the case. Thankfully I was spared answering because the doorbell rang and Izzy brightened up instantly.

"Everyone at the kitchen table in five minutes. We have serious business to attend to tonight and I want no distractions." She said before flipping her hair and skipping to the front door. I watched Magnus and Alec share a look before they stood up and left the room. I made to follow them but I only got as far as the door before it shut in my face. Jace grabbed hold of my hand and span me around before not so gently pushing me against it.

"You sure do like backing girls in to doors, don't you Jace?" I said, my voice shaking a little.

"You don't know what you're getting yourself in to Fray," Jace said, his voice low in my ear. My entire body was hyper alert and he seemed to manage to attack every one of my senses at the same time.

"I know exactly what I'm doing." I said heavily. He looked me in the eye and I held his gaze stubbornly. Very slowly, I found myself leaning in to his lips and he was doing the exact same thing with mine. We never broke eye contact. We never let go of the determined looks on our faces.

More importantly, we never let our lips touch, not once, and we were stood that way for about two minutes until Jace called a truce.

"Stalemate. For now." He breathed and I felt my eyes try to flutter closed. I hated that he could get to me so easily when I was the one who was trying to get to him.

"Why are we doing this?" I asked thickly.

"Doing what?"

"We're both trying to get the other to cave in to their feelings first."

"So you admit you have feelings for me?" Jace grinned. I stared back blankly.

"Regrettably you saw to it that I did last week." I admitted in my own weird way and for a moment I was surprised that I didn't implode from the sheer velocity and weight of this realization.

"I'm glad I could be of some assistance, then." Smiled Jace.

"But..." I trailed off, a dangerous thought popping in to my head; a thought that I knew I wouldn't be able to avoid even if I was paid a million dollars. It was stupid- completely idiotic- but it was kind of brilliant, if I do say so myself.

"_But_ what?"

"Just because I might be starting to find you somewhat bearable on top of being mildly attractive doesn't mean I'm going to fall on my knees and beg you to be my boyfriend." I said stubbornly.

"I wouldn't expect you to-"

"The fact is, you started playing games with me _six years_ ago and I'm not nearly adult enough to let that one slide. Yes I'm immature, yes I might be stupid for doing this, but Jace; you started this war so we're going to end it properly. You made my life hell and now I know exactly how to make yours that way too." I grinned. I wasn't feeling like myself at all. I was feeling... sassy? Like the badass women in detective and film noir movies who always get what they want in the end and don't take crap from anybody.

"What could you possibly do to make my life hell?" Jace asked with his trade mark smirk back in place. I smiled sweetly and rested my forehead against his, running a finger lightly over his lips. I felt him tremble then stiffen and I knew I'd got him like a fly in a spiders web.

"I'm sure I can think of something." I said and pulled my finger away from his now parted lips so I could ruffle the top of his hair. I smiled at him in the 'nothing more than friends' way and sauntered towards the corridor. Turning around with my brightest smile, I said,

"Coming or not?"

I mentally punched the air because he looked like he could have spat nails.

* * *

**JPOV **

She'd ruffled my hair.

She'd practically told me she was in to me, got me a little hot under the collar and then she'd gone and killed my buzz by _ruffling my hair_.

What the hell was that about? Seriously, can't a guy get cut some slack around this place anymore? Apparently not! And since when did Clarissa Fray start acting _sexy_? I was so confused that I felt like I was going to explode any second. But can you blame me, really? I mean hell! _She'd ruffled my freaking hair!_

Admittedly it was a well played move. I could appreciate that, at least, but it didn't stop me being sore that the move had been used on me by little Clary Fray. I didn't think she'd had it in her to fight back with heavy artillery, but I was starting to reconsider my tactics. I was pretty sure that this whole 'war' thing she had going on was going to get messy. I was also just as sure there were going to be multiple casualties to both of us. But I probably deserved what was coming to me. I'd started this after all.

She was still watching me from the doorway and she looked _terribly _amused by the whole situation. I rolled my eyes, smiling a little bit, and walked up to her. I shot her a careful look before grabbing her by the hand and pulling her through the corridor in to the kitchen.

"What have you two been up too?" Isabelle asked curiously as we sat down opposite Magnus and Alec at the table.

"We decided we'd cop a quick feel before we came in. Hope you don't mind." I said seriously, peeling the edge of the label on my beer bottle. Clary snorted loudly and shoved her elbow at my ribs.

"_What?_" Simon spluttered, "Are you two... y'know...?"

"He wishes," Clary smiled.

"'Course he does. He's wished for years. Can we please get down to business now?" Isabelle huffed. Simon's mouth twisted apologetically as he shot me a look. I shrugged and he frowned even more.

I wasn't sure how I felt about them talking about this so freely and I especially wasn't happy that Simon had blabbed to them about it in the first place. A few years ago I'd told him how I felt in a moment's weakness (after one or two- maybe six or seven- tumblers of Jack Daniels) because he was Clary's best friend and I had the weird idea that she might talk to him about boy's... my mistake. All he'd done was tell Izzy who'd then told Alec, who'd eventually made it his business to fill in Magnus _and _Sebastian when we met them at College but apparently they'd already figured it out... if any of that made sense. But what could I do?

Zip.

"Okay! So, I called you all here because you're my best friends and I wanted to let you know that I've finally decided what I want to do for my birthday this year. As you all know, I'll be turning twenty two in a few weeks and since my twenty first was spent with my head down a toilet, I want this one to be special." Izzy said brightly.

"And what does that have to do with us?" Clary asked.

"Well..." Izzy grinned, practically buzzing in her seat.

"Well...?" I waved my hand in a circle, waiting for an answer. Izzy looked at me and squealed loudly in such a frequency that it almost made my head implode.

"We're going to Paris!"

We were all quiet for a long moment, trying to actually figure out what she'd just said.

"...Paris?" Simon asked eventually, sceptical, and Izzy nodded madly.

"Yes. _Paris_." She gushed, holding her hands to her heart and staring dreamily at the ceiling. I almost gagged.

"Iz... I can't afford tickets to Europe..." Clary ventured with a grimace. Simon nodded in agreement.

"I'll pay for you." I offered quickly. Alec shot me a knowing smile but Clary let out a small huff.

"Don't be stupid. I wouldn't let you pay for me to run off to France for however long." She sounded a little irritated and didn't look at me.

"Money isn't an issue. I've already booked the tickets so none of you can back out now." Isabelle huffed, pulling out a fat envelope from the inside pocket of her leather jacket. She dropped it on the table and smiled. Simon reached for the envelope and pulled out six ticket confirmation slips, tossing one at each of us. I pulled mine towards me and read my name on it next to a little sign that read _first class_. My eyes ran over the slip then widened when I saw the price.

"Isabelle!" Clary gasped as she looked at her slip. Guess she'd noticed it too.

"Clary!" Izzy gasped back mockingly. Magnus snickered and laid his own papers in front of him, a distant, glazed look in his eyes. I knew the look on his face well; he wore it whenever he was thinking about shopping, and I supposed Izzy had just offered him his dream vacation. Wasn't Paris meant to be '_It_' in the fashion world?

"These tickets must have cost nearly eight thousand dollars altogether!" Clary said, her face scrunched up in confusion.

"And?" Isabelle asked blankly, not understanding the issue at hand.

"That's a hell of a lot of money Iz." Simon grimaced, looking between the two girls.

"I know it is but I can afford it and it's my birthday, so there." She stuck her tongue out at him and he blushed slightly.

"I'm not letting you spend over a thousand dollars on flights for me." Clary said stubbornly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yes you are, and you're going to stop complaining about it. I spend more than that most weeks on clothes so at least I'm spending the money on something useful. Plus, it's for my birthday. I do what I want. And I want to pay for everyone to come to Paris with me for two weeks."

"How can you even afford this?" Simon asked.

"Haven't you being paying attention for the twelve years you've known me Lewis? Our parents own God knows how many hotels, I have numerous trust funds _and_ I have a job. I won't even miss the money."

"And _that's_ the part I hate." Clary muttered.

"Don't even start this conversation again," Isabelle groaned. I'd heard them arguing over stuff like this before- Clary felt weird when Isabelle shoved money in her face, "Just say you'll come."

I looked to Clary as she stared at the table, secretly hoping that she'd just stop complaining and say yes. She fidgeted with her fingers, doing that weird finger over thumb nervous habit she has and then sighed. She looked up and instead of looking at Isabelle, she caught my gaze. She stared at my face for a long time, the crease between her eyes telling me that she was looking for something- a hint. After a minute, her face seemed to relax and she turned back to Izzy, rolling her eyes.

"Fine, I'll come on your stupid vacation, but I'm paying you back in instalments even if it kills me."

"Yay! I'm so glad you said yes! Okay, we totally need to go shopping. My treat..."

Clary groaned and let her forehead hit the table with a _thunk_ while Isabelle yapped on and on with Magnus about clothes and the pro's and con's of the 2012 summer wardrobe. I placed my hand on her knee gently and patted it, trying not to come across as a sleazy perv. Clary turned her head on the table and smiled weakly at me. She placed her hand on top of mine for a second, mouthing 'thank you'. I mouthed back 'you're welcome' and pulled my hand away, smiling to myself.

* * *

**CPOV**

The next week was hectic. I spent most of my time at the gallery, pulling in as many hours as I could because I desperately needed the money and the time off for Paris. I was totally excited about the holiday to be honest, but that was more because I would be getting to spend two weeks in close contact with a certain blonde haired nightmare...

When I wasn't working, Isabelle kept good to her promise to take me shopping and she used me, to my disgust, as a life-sized Barbie doll. She had me in ball gowns (I wasn't sure when, exactly, we'd be ballroom dancing in Paris but whatever), all different kinds of swim suits and bikini's, day wear, night wear and every other kind of _wear_ imaginable. By the end of the week we could hardly move in our apartment because of the sheer amount of clothes she'd bought for us. I had to take a leap of faith every time I wanted to get from my bedroom door to the actual bed which almost resulted in a broken bone or three.

I'd also seen quite a bit of Jace- insert stupid teenage blush here, if you will. He came to the gallery almost every day and brought me dinner even though I was awful to him to begin with. As the week went by I _might_ have stopped playing mind games. They were far too hard to keep up with; I wasn't the kind of person who could do that and not get sick and tired after a while and I had to face it, just flirting with Jace instead was way more fun.

It was much more comfortable talking to him than I could have ever imagines; we joked about how if shopping was an Olympic sport Isabelle would win the gold medal hands down, though Jace insisted that Magnus would definitely come a close second. I thanked the sweet baby Jesus that I'd never been put through the torture of shopping with both of them and planned to avoid it in the future. He was laid back and relaxed, much different from the tense guy I'd known for the last six years. He told me about how boring it was working at _Rhythm_, and I _awh_d and snickered in all the right places. I think he appreciated someone to talk too more than he let on because, _man_ can that guy talk! I liked it though. It felt normal, comfortable.

He visited me again on Saturday afternoon but this time he actually asked me to go to lunch with him.

"You asking me out on a date?" I teased as he loitered around my desk smiling like an idiot. He shrugged and stuffed his hands in to the pockets of his beat up leather jacket.

"If you're wanting to give it a label you could call it that." He smiled. Erin looked up from the paperwork she was filing and grinned at me behind his back. I rolled my eyes but couldn't keep the smile off my own face for long.

"Fine, let me just grab my coat." I beamed and five minutes later we were wandering slowly towards Taki's.

We chatted mindlessly about next to nothing until we passed a busker sat on the sidewalk. I recognised the lyrics to 'Here Comes the Sun' instantly and I stopped still. I looked up in to the sky for a moment and let the warmth sweep over my skin before taking out a few dollars from my purse and dropping them in the busker's guitar case. I smiled to myself for a moment before sensing Jace's eyes on me and I turned to meet his gaze. We didn't need to say anything; he just smiled in return and held out his hand. I took it with only a second's hesitation.

We stood watching the guy singing for a while longer and I felt happier than I had in a long time. I only had an hour for break and I knew we'd wasted about ten minutes of that time, but I figured what the hell! The sun was out, Jace was holding my hand and The Beatles were telling me 'It's alright...' How much better did it get than that?

We left when the song ended and picked up the pace a little. Jace didn't let go of my hand until I- of course- almost ploughed headfirst in to someone just in front of Taki's. I flew backwards and hit the floor heavily, cursing at the top of my voice.

"Oh, crap. Sorry!" a man said above me. I heard Jace asking if I was okay but my reply got stuck in my throat as I stared wide eyed at the guy who stood above me, offering me his hand.

It made my chest ache to even look at him.

"Clary?" he asked, his voice slick as silk just like it had been the last time I'd spoken to him. I nodded dizzily and pushed my hair back from my face nervously. I grabbed his offered hand before I even knew what I was doing and the contact sent uncomfortable static flying through me. He pulled me to my feet and didn't let go.

"Hi, Zach." I mumbled weakly. I heard Jace suck in a sharp breath but I couldn't look at him. I couldn't concentrate on anything but my ex, even as Jace placed a hand on my shoulder and a tingly heat spread through me.

"How- uh... how've you been?" he asked.

"She's been fine- no thanks to you." Jace interrupted my jumbled reply that didn't exactly consist of any real words with a snarl. I pulled my eyes away from Zach and looked Jace in the eye, trying to tell him it was okay. He raised an eyebrow and shifted his glare to my hand in Zach's and I pulled it away instantly.

"I'm... glad." Zach smiled weakly and I attempted to smile back. I felt like I'd been frozen over solid.

"We should be going." I muttered and side stepped him, grabbing Jace's hand again, looking for some warmth.

"Yeah, me too. Maybe I'll see you around?" he said, sounding just a little bit hopeful. I shrugged noncommittally and hoisted my purse on to my shoulder.

"Yeah. Maybe."

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**Leave a review and let me know what you think :)**

**ML**


	6. Give Me What I Want

**A/N: I own nothing but the plot and the own minor characters.**

**Hiya. New chapter. I know it's not as long as usual but it's still over 3000 words heh :) Please read the note at the bottom! **

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**Chapter Song: Give Me What I Want- Kids In Glass Houses **

**JPOV**

"Remind me again," I said stiffly as I sat between Alec and Magnus, getting covered with hot pink body glitter from the latter, "_why_ we're watching a Gilmore Girls marathon on a Saturday night? Or even just remind me why we're watching Gilmore Girls at all. Seriously, I'm dying to know."

Magnus thumped me with a pillow from the couch without his eyes ever leaving the TV screen.

"Hey!" I complained, earning myself a whack from Alec too. I glared at him but he waved me off and turned back to the screen, eyes wide.

"I think you two are forgetting whose apartment this-"

"Shut up Blondie! Rory and Dean are breaking it off again! I feel so bad for her." Magnus gushed as he bounced in his seat, sending a new wave of glitter towards me. I wafted it away from my face, gagging.

"She doesn't deserve him." Alec piped up, shooting Magnus a look of horror, "She cheated on him with Jess! That's not acceptable."

"She's just a confused, hormonal teenage girl." Magnus said defensively.

"Sure _you're_ not a confused, hormonal teenage girl?" I muttered under my breath, crossing my arms across my chest with annoyance.

"What, so you're saying it's okay to cheat as long as your hormonal?" Alec raised his eyebrows, leaning around me to get a better look at his boyfriend. I bit the inside of my cheek to stop from saying some rather unhelpful comments.

"Don't be an idiot Alec. You know fine well that that isn't what I'm implying."

"Well that's pretty much what you said when _you_ cheated!"

My eyebrows shot up and I looked between them, completely lost.

"I didn't cheat!" Magnus gasped defensively and I glanced back to Alec, feeling like I was watching a tennis match.

"I caught you in bed with Simon, Magnus." Alec said darkly and before I could stop myself I snorted out a laugh. They both swatted me around the back of the head.

"Ouch! That hurt, you know?" I moaned, rubbing my head with a scowl.

"No one cares Blondie." Magnus shot at me before turning his attention back to Alec, "It was dark, he has black hair like yours and he was passed out in your bed! What was I suppose to think?"

"I'm pretty sure you could tell it wasn't me when you got closer!"

"How do you expect me to do that when I could barely see my own hand when I put it in front of my face? We were all pretty drunk and we were just spooning. It's not like I tried too-"

"Wait, wait, wait. You spooned with Lewis?" I asked, grimacing, "that's kind of gay, even for you Maggie. But it's awesome blackmail against Simon. Thanks. One question; did he know it was happening? Like, was he awake?" I said cheerfully and surprisingly (or not), they both just glared. I raised an eyebrow then sighed, letting them get on with it.

They spent the next five minutes bickering over the 'incident' with Simon and I busied myself with trying to stealthily change the TV channel so I could watch anything other than this girly crap. I'd finally managed to pick up the remote from the floor by using my feet when I got another slap to the head.

"Don't even think about changing the channel, Jace." Magnus growled. I groaned loudly and slammed my hands against my thighs.

"Have you two misplaced an 'Y' chromosome and picked up a second 'X' instead? I need something manly!" I groaned, "I'm sick of being covered in pink glitter and watching Gilmore Girls! I need beer and sports! I am a _man_, for Christ's sake and this is _my_ Loft and that is_ my_ TV and _dammit_ I should have a say in what we watch!"

"Fine! What _do_ you want to watch?" Alec huffed. He and Magnus were looking at me like I was a couple togas short of an orgy. I narrowed my eyes and flicked through the channel guide, grumbling to myself until I found something that I liked.

"There." I said happily as Magnus looked at me incredulously. I shoved the remote under my leg so neither of them could grab for it and put me back in that pit of misery I'd just been in then grabbed a beer from the mini fridge beside Alec.

"This? You go from Gilmore Girls to _this_?"

"What?" I asked, confused. I couldn't see anything wrong with my choice of movie.

"You're insane. It's the only possible answer. You're a complete anomaly." Magnus nodded to himself solemnly, grabbing his cocktail glass and taking a sip. I rolled my eyes and arched an eyebrow.

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about but this is a great movie." I argued.

"Jace... you do realise we're watching The Princess Diaries, right?" Alec said tentatively, looking at me out of the corner of his eyes.

"Of course I realise. I put it on didn't I?"

"How can this possibly qualify as being manly? I've seen tutu's that have more testosterone than this movie." Magnus groaned, his voice muffled because his face was in his hands.

"Anne Hathaway is hot." I shrugged and propped my feet up on the table.

"Men," Magnus grumbled, looking up from his hands with disgust.

"You're the one who's in to them." I shrugged with a grin. He rolled his eyes but I could see a smile tugging at his lips. I let out a relieved sigh because years of experience told me that getting on Magnus' bad side would generally result in my ass being set on fire or something equally painful and/or potentially life threatening. I get that we're all out of college now and we're supposed to be 'grown up's', but we'd still do that kind of stupid shit if the opportunity raised its head. Especially the ass on fire thing since Magnus is a pyromaniac. Honest to God, I've never seen anyone get so giddy over flames in my life. There was this one time when he managed to set Alec's eyebrows alight without being anywhere near him.

Ah, Good times.

"Speaking of being in to people," Alec said casually, running and hand through his hair, "Anything happen with you and Clary today? You were going to see her right?"

My face hardened instantly. Today wasn't really one of my favourite memories, to be honest. Well, before we'd ran in to a certain douche bag it had been great but afterwards the whole thing took a nose dive and our sort-of-date ended up face planting the concrete.

"Oh you know; the usual. I went to the gallery on her lunch break and coerced her in to coming to lunch with me. It was cool until she managed to plough straight in to Zach on the street." I muttered.

"Zach as in her ex boyfriend Zach?"

"The one and only."

"I imagine that was sufficiently awkward for the pair of you." Magnus drawled. I nodded with a grimace.

"We barley spoke afterwards. I was too busy trying not to jump up and go after him to pay much attention to Clary while we ate and she was just staring at the table looking like she wanted the ground to swallow her up whenever I did look at her. And you should have seen the looks he was giving her! It was like he wanted to ravage her right there on the sidewalk-"

"So he was looking at her the same way you do?" Magnus said, pulling nauseating over the top kissy faces at me. I shoved his shoulder and moved to sit on the recliner just so I could get away from them.

"That's beside the point." I spoke stiffly and pulled the handle on the chair so I was laying back, "I am the master at keeping my thoughts to my self... mostly, anyways, and Zach was just pawing all over her. He wouldn't let go of her hands and he even had the audacity to ask how she'd been!"

"And what did she say?" Alec asked, sliding next to Magnus and taking his hand- their argument completely forgotten.

"Nothing. I just blurted out that she'd been fine, no thanks to him." I winced, knowing how overprotective I sounded.

"Wow, why didn't you just drop your pants and pee on her? It would have been way more subtle." Magnus said. I wasn't entirely sure if he said it jokingly or not because he looked so serious.

"Whatever." I mumbled and rubbed my temples lightly with my fingers.

"It seems to me that you're jealous." He continued, smirking now.

"Of Zach? Don't be dim." I snorted.

"Fine, maybe not you're jealous but you're definitely insecure."

"I have never been insecure a day in my life. What reason do _I_ have to be insecure?"

Magnus mimed stroking his non-existent beard- he'd tried growing a goatee once to make him look artistic but his inability to grow facial hair made that idea crash land- and hummed for a moment.

"Let me take a guess. Might it have something to do with the fact Clary's ex has popped up out of the woodwork and is threatening the weird little relationship you two have going on? Wasn't he your best friend in High School? I'm pretty sure it must eat at you to know she went for him instead of you back then and might just do it again now if they get close again."

"Can you just not talk anymore? I hate it when you put things in to perspective." I growled. Magnus smiled.

"I'm only trying to help, Blondie."

"Well you're not."

"Did Clary say anything to him at all?" Alec asked and I shrugged.

"He was like, '_maybe I'll see you around'_," I put on a stupid impression of Zach's voice, earning a laugh from Alec and Magnus, "and she said 'yeah, maybe'. What the hell is that supposed to mean? She was blushing the entire time, too. This is typical! I finally get my chance and then Zach comes waltzing back on the scene." I ranted. Alec cocked an eyebrow.

"Cool it, Jace; you're acting like a drama queen. I'm sure it meant nothing." He said just as the intercom buzzed. I groaned and pulled myself out of the recliner so I could cross to the elevator. I jabbed my pointer finger to the button.

"Yeah?" I said in to the microphone.

"Sebastian Verlac is here, Mr Herondale." Lee the doorman's voice told me. I brightened up a little. Maybe he'd brought some decent conversation with him.

"Send him up. Thanks Lee."

A minute later Sebastian walked through the elevator doors, grinning and swinging a bag at me. I abandoned it and dropped to my knees in front of him, hugging his legs.

"Thank the sweet baby Jesus you're here!" I mock cried as he tried to pry me away from his body, looking absolutely horrified.

"Jace, what the hell are you doing?" he asked, a note of panic in his voice. I watched him look over to Alec and Magnus with a frown. They shrugged.

"Don't look at us. He's never been all there." Alec said simply, tapping his head twice.

I unattached myself quickly, finally realising that I did in fact look a little insane and grabbed for the bag he'd brought.

"What did you bring me?" I asked as I tried to open it.

"Beer, takeout and a couple Xbox games."

I looked up sharply, a grin almost splitting my face.

"Thank you! Sanity at last!"

"Whatever. Why the hell do you have pink glitter in your hair? And is that The Princess Diaries on the TV?" he asked sceptically.

"Yeah, unfortunately. This is Jace's idea of manly." Magnus said dryly, his lip curling. Sebastian shrugged and sat down in the second recliner.

"Well, Anne Hathaway _is_ hot."

"You people are pigs." Magnus grumbled.

"Yup," Seb and I said at the same time, leaning back in our chairs and popping the caps off our beer.

* * *

**CPOV**

I was having a great dream. I shit you not, it was the kind of dream that you try desperately to remember as soon as you wake up just so you can hide it away in the section marked 'exclusively for daydreams' in your mind for later reference. I remember it was getting to the best part and then...

Then she woke me up.

And it was gone.

It's a shame Isabelle Lightwood exists, really.

I shot up in bed, looking around my room wildly, trying to see where the fire was because there must have been one for her to be yelling in my ear so loudly. She stood beside my bed in her pyjama shorts and tank top, bouncing up and down like my Mom and Luke's three year old son at Christmas, a huge smile on her face. I looked at her sleepily for a long while, just trying to comprehend why she was in here on the only day of the week where I could sleep past 9am and figuring out all the different ways I could get her the hell out of here.

Finally, I wiped my eyes and blinked a few times then frowned.

"Iz. I love you but you need to shut up and get out of my bedroom right now before I break you." I said, deadly serious. Her smile didn't falter though, which was weird because she knew any threat I make on a morning is guaranteed to be followed through. Instead she squealed again, even louder and at an impossibly high pitch, and grabbed hold of my hand so she could yank me out of bed.

"Izzy!" I screamed as she pulled me out of my room. I leaned back, trying to scramble my way back in to my room so I could hibernate from now until Paris but Izzy used her freakishly strong girl muscles and hauled me on to her back and carried me to the front door.

"Clary, you have to look at this!" she sang as she dropped me and I landed on my ass.

"Look at what?" I growled at her as I stood up. She giggled and pointed towards the table by the door where a bouquet of what must have been over two dozen red roses sat wrapped in white lace ribbon. I huffed and turned back to Izzy.

"I can't believe you woke me up to show me flowers. Who bought you them? Simon or some other boy maybe?" I asked irritably, scratching my head and yawning.

"Ha. I wish. They're not for me you idiot, they're addressed to you!" she gushed, beaming. I stopped mid scratch and just looked at her again.

"For me? Who the hell would be buying me flowers?"

"Please. Of course it was Jace! Who else would it be?" she said with a smile. I brightened up straight away.

"Jace bought me flowers?" I half squealed, half giggled and practically skipped over to them. I grabbed them and put them to my nose.

"Wow, they smell beautiful." I smiled and held them out for her to smell.

"Who knew Herondale was a hopeless romantic? Read the card! I have to know what it says." She prodded my arm and I plucked the square handwritten card from amongst the flowers then set it down so I could read it.

"'Fray," I read, grinning with Izzy as she clapped her hands excitedly, "Sorry about what happened yesterday. I hope these make up for it, even just a little bit. See you soon. J.'" I finished and handed it to Izzy. She let out one more squeak before trying to compose herself to the ice queen she tried to be when she was in public.

"It's cute that he's apologising for how much of an ass Zach is."

"Yeah," I said and smiled again before picking up the flowers and finding a vase for them. I pottered about the kitchen, chopping the stalks and placing the roses in to the crystal vase we'd never used before then carried them down to my room. I placed them on my night stand with a smile.

"They must have cost him a fortune," Izzy sighed as she leaned against my doorframe. I looked at them and nodded, feeling all warm and mushy inside, like treacle pudding. With one last look I grabbed my cell and wandered in to the living room, giving up any idea of sleeping again. I was way too buzzed.

I flopped on to the couch and flipped open my phone as Izzy channel hopped. With a tiny smile, I scrolled to Jace's number and hit create message.

**Flowers, huh? Someone is sucking up real bad. Thank you, they're beautiful and I loved the card! See you later at the BBQ –C** I typed then hit send and turned my attention to the Gossip Girl rerun Izzy was watching.

"I'd do bad things for Chuck Bass." She said, biting her lip and shaking her head.

"Mmhm, I'd do some pretty questionable stuff for any of the guys on this show." I agreed.

"Amen to the casting directors of Gossip Girl." She said dreamily just as my phone buzzed on my knee. I flipped it open and read the text eagerly.

**What? I didn't send you flowers... bring card to the Lightwood's : \ See you 2nite babe –J**

I stared at the text for a long moment before snapping my cell shut and placing it on the chair beside my crossed legs.

"Izzy?" I said quietly as I frowned. She looked up from the TV briefly to show she was listening.

"Mm?"

"Jace didn't send the flowers."

* * *

**What'cha' think? :)  
**

**Okay- I've re-read everything I've written for this story so far and I noticed a lot of stuff is mentioned that doesn't happen in the story, like little events such as when Jace calls Clary a 'skinny, carrot topped mega douche' and when she hit's him for spreading rumours in high school, and of course the Magnus shenanigans at college ('Maggie' and setting Alec's eyebrows on fire). I was just wondering if anyone would be interested if I actually wrote those as like a little compilation of oneshots? Just funny accompaniments for the story. Let me know in a message or review or something and if enough people like the idea, I'll do it:)**

**ML  
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	7. Only One

**A/N: nothing is mine except for the plot and that swine, Zach- not something I'm particularly proud of to be fair.  
**

**Hi guys! Thanks for the reviews and favourites etc :) Really appreciating the love. Because of the amount of people I had telling me to go ahead with the one-shots, I've decided to do them! They will be under the title 'ALL'S FAIR WHEN LOVE IS WAR- DRABBLES'. I hope you enjoy them.**

* * *

**Chapter Song: Only One- Yellow Card**

**CPOV**

Izzy and I were pretty much silent all the way to her parent's house, only sharing stinted conversation- or debate, whatever you want to call it- about the route. I tapped the steering wheel agitatedly the entire hour and half it took to get to their house in the Hampton's and by the time we pulled up by the garages I was, for lack of a better word, a complete wreck. I mean, Jace hadn't sent those flowers so who else could have?

I was kidding myself, pretending I didn't know the answer to that question. There was only one other person in the world who would send flowers apologising for what happened yesterday, call me Fray in the note that came with them and then sign it off with a 'J'.

Zach Johnson.

I dragged myself out of the car and wandered my way around the back to the trunk so I could pull out the case Izzy and I were sharing since we were staying until Tuesday morning. She came around the back to meet me and took it from my hands.

"Here, I'll carry it." She smiled and yanked the handle out so she could pull it along the winding path that led through the garden to the front door.

"I'm pretty sure I can handle it," I protested weakly but she shook her head.

"Honey, I think you're already carrying enough baggage today." She grinned and I rolled my eyes with a grimace, "Besides, I think there's someone wanting to talk to you." She jerked her head over her shoulder. I looked to where she'd directed to see Jace standing on the decking that led to the beach front, watching us with a careful expression. I looked him over quickly, greedily admiring the way his white Fred Perry polo shirt made his chest look simply _wow, _and then tripped over the guilt that had built up in me since this morning when I'd figured out the mystery of the flowers. I looked back to Isabelle and bit my lip.

"I'll see you inside?" I said, making it a question because I was silently hoping for her to bail me out of speaking to him so soon.

"Sure, I'll tell mom and dad you're on your way in. See you soon." She smiled with a wink and my heart sank as I watched her negotiate the case and make her way up to the house. Very slowly, I turned back to Jace and walked to him. I don't know why I felt like I'd betrayed him- it's not like I'd done anything wrong and it wasn't like I'd even properly admitted I had feelings for him- yet. Not that I even had to tell him out loud; I was pretty sure he'd figured that one out all on his own. He wasn't as stupid as I gave him credit for.

I looked up at him with a tiny smile and played with my hands nervously.

"Hi," I whispered.

"Hey. Do you want to- uh, I mean would you like to take a quick walk?" he said, sounding overly formal for his usual laid back, sarcastic self. I nodded and began walking down to the beach.

"You look beautiful, by the way. You should wear that colour more often." He said as he came to my side. I looked down at the jade green sundress I'd thrown on before we'd left the apartment and smiled.

"Thanks. You look, uh, beautiful too?" I laughed nervously. He smiled and ran a hand through his hair.

"Don't I always?"

"Be careful now or I'm going to have to get an industrial sized needle to pop that fat head of yours." I teased, earning myself a glimpse of his signature smirk. I pretty much turned to mush right there on the sand.

"You, my sarcastic friend, would miss my fat head too much. Go on, feel free to admit it."

I didn't even bother denying it.

"You're right, I would miss it." I said quietly, looking at him out of the corner of my eyes. I watched as he raised his eyebrows and smiled a little, reaching out tentatively and grabbing my hand. I let him without protest and grinned myself.

We wandered along the beach quietly for a few minutes and I concentrated on the warm sun on my skin and the crunch of the sand under my feet. It slipped between my flip flops and rubbed at my toes uncomfortably so I stopped and yanked them off. Of course, me being me, I pulled them too hard and ended up losing my balance which resulted in me thumping down on to the sand, twisting my ankle awkwardly as I landed.

"Ouch!" I yelped with a grimace. I took my foot in my hand and rubbed it uselessly.

"Are you okay?" Jace asked, looking at me with concern.

"Yeah, just give me a second."

I frowned at my foot for a long moment, as if it would do any good, and then sighed.

"Do you make it a daily habit to land on your ass?" Jace teased as he looked down at me and I mock-glared at him.

"No, but do you mind giving me a hand up?"

Jace shrugged and offered me his hand. I took it with both of mine and then, with a quick stroke of genius, I yanked his arm.

"Whoa," he yelled as he struggled for his balance, only to lose the fight and topple down on top of me. I burst out laughing as he face planted the sand and watched as he pulled his head up quickly, spluttering and coughing as he tried to glare at me. I smiled sweetly.

"I think you've got something on your face..." I said, wiping sand from his chin, "kind of looks like a crumby beard."

"You think that's funny, Fray?" he asked as he swiped at his face with a hand, trying not to collapse on top of me again. I nodded my head and stuck my tongue out at him.

"Actually, I thought it was hilarious." I corrected him through a giggle. He grinned.

"I don't think I'll let you get away with that one." He said slyly and I shut up, watching him carefully through narrow eyes. Very slowly, I saw an idea clicking in to place in his head and my eyes grew as wide as saucers.

"No. Jace, don't. Don't you dare!" I pleaded but his smile only grew. Before I knew it he was tickling every patch of skin he could find and I was writhing around on the sand, half laughing and half wailing hysterically as I tried to wriggle away from him.

"Stop it!" I gasped as he attacked me, laughing like a maniac. He carried on with his assault and I wacked his back with my fists, yelling at him through giggles.

"Are you going to apologise?" he laughed, tickling my ribs. I nodded quickly.

"I'm sorry!" I squealed in to his ear and finally he drew his hands away with a triumphant grin. I rolled my eyes and laughed quietly as I looked up at him. It only took me a second to notice that we were sat in quite a... uh, _compromising_ position. He was sat on top of me, his legs either side of my waist and his arms trapped me to the floor. I looked at him, suddenly serious, and I could see that he'd twigged on too.

Something shifted in the atmosphere around us and all of a sudden I felt nervous again, my stomach twisting uncomfortably as my eyes raked his face. I couldn't mistake the look in his eyes for anything but pure lust and I hazarded a guess that my own face looked exactly the same.

"I'm sorry," I breathed again, not knowing what exactly I was apologising for this time. We stared at each other for a moment longer before his soft lips met mine. He kissed me so slowly and languidly that I whimpered in to his mouth. The noise seemed to make him more confident and he pulled me closer to his body, twining his fingers in my hair. I snaked my own arms around his neck and opened my mouth for him, playing with the short curls at the base of his neck. His tongue sunk in to my mouth and did devastating things there- I felt like I might actually drop down dead from that one kiss.

Slowly, his hands came loose from my hair and moved down the silhouette of my body to my hips. Wherever his hands touched, little sparks of electricity seemed to course through my skin like I was being hit by tiny bolts of lightning. He brought one hand back to my face and cupped it lightly, his thumb swirling against my skin so softly and tenderly that it made my insides squirm and ache. I took in a sharp intake of air and arched my back involuntarily, my body acting of its own accord to get closer to him. He kissed a line from the base of my neck to the wonderfully sensitive spot behind my ear and I bit my lip so hard that I thought I might burst the skin.

I was too euphoric to think about what was right or wrong or even what the hell I was doing getting horizontal with _Jace Herondale_ on a beach in the middle of broad daylight, but apparently he wasn't. Very slowly he pulled back and stared at me again.

"Clary, what's the deal with the flowers?" he asked and all traces of lust fled my body as I remembered the reason we'd come on to the beach in the first place. He wanted to talk to me about the letter. With a sigh, I gently pushed him off me and sat hugging my legs on the sand. He sat beside me, watching out of the corner of his eyes.

"I was so sure it was you." I said eventually, looking at my painted toe nails. My cheeks were burning with embarrassment. "The note was signed off as 'J' so I didn't even stop to think, but I should have known."

"Clary-" he began but I cut him off.

"Here." I said, handing him the now crumpled note from the pocket of my dress. He scanned it quickly and frowned.

"I don't get it. Who the hell sent you the flowers?" he asked, frustrated. I took a deep breath before I answered.

"Zach."

"But why would he sign it-"

"When we were together we had this thing where we would call each other by our last names; Fray and Johnson. Some couples have pet names- we had surnames. That's how it was." I said quietly.

Jace was silent for a long time before he stood up and pulled me up after him. He put his hands on my shoulders and looked me straight in the eye.

"You do realise I'm going to kick his ass if he even tries to come near you again, right?"

"Don't you think that's a little rash?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "What if he just wants to be friends?"

Jace laughed dryly.

"I know how guys like him work because _I'm_ a guy like him. I was, anyway. We don't give up once we want something. I told you Clary, all's fair when love is war. He's the one who said that to me the first time- when he started dating you because he knew I wanted you. I'm not going to let him play you again."

"You make it sound like I'm just something the pair of you can mess around with and then drop when I get boring." I said snidely, rolling my eyes and crossing my arms across my chest. Jace laughed and caught my chin with his fingers.

"I've been chasing after you for years, Clary. I think if I was going to get bored of you it would have happened before now. And besides," he grinned wickedly, bringing his hand to the back of my neck and the other to my waist, "Who can get bored of a girl who kisses as well as you do?"

I smiled beside myself and stepped closer.

"I guess I'd be able to cope if you kissed me again."

He gave me an illuminating smile and bent his head so he could kiss me. I smiled in to his mouth and wrapped my arms around his neck, going up on to my toes so he wouldn't have to bend as much.

Lanky bastard.

* * *

**JPOV **

To call this thing at the Lightwood's a barbeque would be like saying _Kick Ass _is only a moderate film- a complete and utter lie. Last time I checked, barbeques weren't supposed to have waiters and a crew of chefs making the food so the rest of us could sit around talking bull and taking dips in the pool. I was pretty sure barbeques were supposed to be messy, trial and error affairs where the men get all primal over fire and burn steaks and shit instead of lounging with martinis and talking about the current state of the economy. But hey, who was I to complain? Free stuff is free stuff in my eyes, but I did wonder why the hell my parents had to be here. Seriously, _why_? Who in their right, sane mind would do this to me?

I glanced at Robert Lightwood and he grinned, tilting his glass in a mock salute. I glared and he laughed, turning back to his conversation.

I was sat beside my father at a garden table; listening to him blather on about his stocks to a guy who I was pretty sure was part of the Senate. I'd been sat here for about an hour now and I hadn't said a word, but _no_, I wasn't allowed to move.

As soon as Clary and I had come back from the beach, she'd been stolen away by Izzy to go be girly and my mother had marched up to me and ordered me to go to my room and change in to the clothes she'd laid out on my bed like I was ten years old again. Of course I'd done what she'd said because I seriously can't handle her moaning away in my ear about making a good impression in front of all of these upstanding ladies and gentleman of society but _dammit_, I wasn't happy about it.

I looked around the area again, my chin resting listlessly in my palm, and spotted the guys sat by the poolside. They were all drinking beer out of a cooler by their table and laughing at something that was probably not as funny as they made it out to be and I narrowed my eyes, wishing I could be with them. Hell, Alec's parents were the ones throwing this party and they didn't make _him_ wear a suit. But, alas, this is what I have come to expect from being a Herondale.

I took a small piece of comfort when I saw Sebastian sitting uncomfortably at the table opposite mine, his eyes wide and a baffled look plastered to his face. An old man with a toupee was talking to him and I saw Seb stutter over a sentence and shift in his chair. He fiddled with the collar of his shirt and let out a sigh of relief when the man excused himself to get another drink. He spotted me and shook his head with a grimace and I pulled a similar face until I felt a light tap on my shoulder.

"Hey stranger."

I turned to see Aline smiling down at me and grinned. I should have known she'd be here. Bored of listening to the drone of my father's voice, I excused myself and stood up without waiting for a reply. I took Aline's arm and led her towards the bar.

"Your timing is fantastic. I felt like slamming my head on the table." I said.

"My parents were showing me off to the eligible bachelors of New York otherwise I would have sprung you earlier." She rolled her eyes, scrunching up her nose in distaste.

"How fun that must be for you." I laughed and grabbed a beer. She took a cocktail from the tray on top of the bar and sipped at it.

"Oh yeah, it's simply to die for. I love being shoved towards every single male over the age of eighteen going at this party. You know, they even tried to shove me at Alec. We politely tried to explain that he's gay and they were all like '_that's just a temporary setback_'. Stupid. I can't wait 'till all the oldies leave tonight so we can actually have some fun tomorrow. Speaking of fun- who's your friend over there?" she pointed subtly towards Sebastian and I grinned.

"Sebastian Verlac- he's my friend from college. He and his parents have moved to New York permanently. They use to live in LA. You've actually met him plenty of times before."

"Glamorous," she smiled and carried on eyeing him. I rolled my eyes and shoved her arm lightly. She looked up and shrugged.

"What? Can't I appreciate a fine specimen when I see one?"

"I could just introduce you to him, you know. Nott hat I should have to. Like I said, he was with us at Pandemonium the other week." I pointed out. She laughed and brushed off my comment with a shrug.

"I'm sure I can introduce myself, and I will do just that but I think I have business to attend to first." She said, nodding over my shoulder. I turned around to see Clary looking at the pair of us, her eyebrows raised and a sceptical look on her face. It was the first time I'd seen her since we'd come back and obviously Isabelle had worked her wonders. Clary had been transformed in to something beyond beautiful.

"Hey, are you listening to me?" Aline said in my ear and shoved me. I blinked and looked away, snapping my mouth shut.

"What?" I asked. She sighed.

"I said, I take it things are going well in the Clary department."

"Oh. Yeah, I guess so." I nodded, smiling a little bit. Aline grinned and shook her head.

"She obviously doesn't know we're not an item, judging by the look on her face. I think I'll go talk to her."

"Aline, no wait-" I started but she'd already sauntered off towards Clary who suddenly looked like she was trying desperately to find an escape route. I groaned and took a sip of my beer before wandering off to find Alec.

* * *

**CPOV**

Aline was prowling towards me and I couldn't help but feel panicked. She was coming to scream at me. I just knew it. But I also knew I wanted to scream at her for continually trying to sink her claws in to my- I mean, in to _Jace_. I looked around frantically, trying to find Isabelle but she was nowhere to be seen. I crossed my arms over my chest protectively and forced myself to look her in the eye as she came to stand in front of me.

"Hey," she said with a nod.

"Hi." I replied placidly. We stood awkwardly for a long moment before she broke the silence.

"I love your dress. Who made it?" she asked. I looked down at the ridiculous tea dress I was wearing, courtesy of- who else? Isabelle. It was pretty and all- it was a cream organza stripe bandeau dress- but it wasn't me at all. I felt awkward, like I was trying to be someone I wasn't. Fair enough, my family might be well off compared to some since my dad left a pretty sizable amount of money for mom, Jonathan and me when he died, but I wasn't one of these garden party, designer girls like Izzy. She suited the look and, to put it simply, I didn't.

"I- uh, I have no idea. I think its high street..." I mumbled. Aline shrugged.

"Mine's a Max Azria. I met him at New York fashion week and he made this for me." She said, fingering the loose material of the skirt of the dress. It was beautiful...

"That's... nice." I said and Aline smiled.

"Anyway, I think we need to talk about Jace." She said, getting down to business. I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"What about him?" I squeaked, looking around the garden. Jace was stood talking to Alec, a gloomy look on his face. I caught his eye and he grimaced before quickly turning away. My stomach plummeted in to the general region of my ass.

"You need to know that we're not together." She said bluntly. I didn't reply- I was a little too shocked to function.

"See, we were for a while in High School but that was more because he was- _is-_ gorgeous and our parents were kind of encouraging the idea, but it didn't work out. As soon as you turned up on the scene, everyone else was out of the picture. It was like he had tunnel vision, all he saw was you. You ruined him for every other girl on the planet, Clary." She finished with an almost kind smile. My mouth gaped for a second before I flicked my eyes back to him.

"But... you two were always together. Kissing and stuff. I saw you guys all the time." I said, still looking at Jace. I turned back to her as she laughed.

"We were just trying to get you to notice him- it was no big deal. You were too busy hating him to see how stupidly in love with you he was, and still is." Aline said with a small shrug.

"You were trying to make me... _what_?"

"He's-"

But I didn't give her a chance to repeat what she'd said. I was already stumbling my way to Jace.

"_Everyone_ knew?" I demanded before I'd even reached him. He frowned.

"What?" he asked, shoving his hands in to his pockets. Alec mumbled something, running an agitated hand through his hair and walking away quickly, looking over his shoulder at the pair of us.

"Literally _Everyone_ knew and I couldn't even see it?" I said less angrily this time because it wasn't him I was pissed at.

It was me. Stupid, blind, childish me. I'd known my close friends had an idea, they'd all told me as much. But the thought of people other than them knowing about Jace and me before I'd even realised myself was infuriating.

"Clary, what are you-?" I cut off his sentence again with a shake of my head.

"Tell me. Tell _me _how you feel about me. Now. Properly this time. No games, just us."

I watched silently as Jace's eyes opened wide and then dropped to the floor. He looked nervous, more nervous than I'd even thought he had the right to be. It just wasn't him. Jace never got nervous.

'_And, did it ever cross your mind that you might make him _nervous_?' _Izzy had said that to me weeks ago now and I was only just starting to see the full extent of how right she might have been.

I felt like kicking myself.

I was pulled out of my head by the feel of rough hands against mine. Jace's hands, to be exact.

"Clary," he sighed with a small smile. I bit my lip, trying not to cry over how completely idiotic and juvenile I was and looked up in to his eyes. I was almost bowled over by the emotion they held.

"Clary, since the very first time I laid eyes on you I was yours. I know I've said and done some pretty stupid, hurtful stuff but it was all because you made me feel things no one else has made me feel. When I met you I changed and I was scared of that, so I'm sorry for all of that. You're the only one I've ever really wanted to be with. I know you might not feel the same as I do yet, but... for Christ's sake, Fray, I'm-"

"Did you like the flowers?" A smooth, painfully familiar voice said in my ear, cutting off Jace's sentence. I watched as Jace's eyes slowly narrowed and then became completely emotionless. His fists were in tight balls.

"What are you doing here Zach?" he said evenly. Zach's lips curled up in to a grin and he tipped his head.

"The Lightwoods invited my parents and I figured Fray would be here so I tagged along. I wanted to talk to her privately." He said, running a hand through his curly jet black hair.

"Anything you have to say to me you can say in front of Jace." I said quietly, not looking him in the eyes. I couldn't- it still physically hurt me to look even after all this time.

"What- are you two a couple now?" Zach cocked an eyebrow. I glanced at Jace quickly- he looked seriously pissed. I grabbed for his hand and squeezed it lightly but he didn't squeeze back. He just continued to glare at Zach as if he was trying to shoot burning lasers out of his eyes or something.

"I... I like Jace, Zack. Please don't ruin this for me." I said nervously.

"Well we all know Jace _likes_ you." Zach smiled.

"Stop it Zach." I said firmly and frowned.

"What? I'm just stating the truth. It's not like it was some huge secret- he's been trying to bed you for years."

"Zach!"

"Hey, dude, I don't blame you in the slightest." Zach said lazily, gesturing to Jace, "I mean she's hot isn't she."

"You might want to start thinking about shutting up." Jace growled. His hand clenched around mine and he dropped my hand.

"Or what? You're chicken shit Jace. You wouldn't dare lay a finger on me especially not with your precious little whore stood right-"

"I'm the whore?" I said, outraged but no one was listening. What happened next was a complete blur. One second Jace was stood at my side, and then he was gone. Well, it wasn't that he was gone; it was that he'd sidestepped me and thrown himself straight in to Zach. They crashed backwards, straight in to one of the glass garden tables and landed on the shattered remains with a thump. I watched, unable to move or speak, as Jace's arm bent back and his fist curled in to a deadly ball and then smacked in to Zach's face.

* * *

**There we go- what did you's think? I think that beginning bit was kind of cute :) Yes? No?**

**ML  
**


	8. Little Lion Man

**A/N: You know I don't own anything!**

**As usual, thank you for all the amazing reviews!  
**

**Hope you like it.**

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**Chapter Song: Little Lion Man- Mumford and Sons **

**JPOV**

I felt a sick sense of satisfaction as my knuckles drove into Zach's face, but it didn't feel like it should be me feeling it at all. I heard the stomach-churning crunch of his nose snapping under the force of my fist with horrendously clear clarity and pulled it back with a wince. We were both already covered in light smatterings of blood from being cut with the shattered glass of the table top but now his face was gushing with the viscous red substance. I didn't feel bad about it- I was way too pumped on adrenalin to feel anything but a buzz of energy surging through my body. I didn't feel the cut's on my body even though I knew they were there, I just concentrated on watching Zach cupping his burst nose in his hands and listened to him wail in pain.

I was aware that people were yelling my name- probably telling me to stop- but I just couldn't bring myself to uncurl my fists and back away from Zach. I swung my left fist in to his jaw with all the force I could manage and his head whipped to the right. He coughed and spluttered, probably choking on blood.

I didn't care.

I grabbed hold of his chin between my thumb and forefinger, squeezing his already bruised face hard between the digits. He bit on his lip to stop from crying out even though I wanted him too. I wanted to hear the pain he was feeling- wanted him to know that I would protect Clary no matter what.

I felt like a maniac.

Very slowly, I brought my face close to his and looked him straight in the eye with a hard, cold glare.

"You're fucking pathetic," I growled. He looked away, wincing and I shoved his head down against the stone and glass. A pair of hands grabbed my shoulders roughly and yanked me to my feet. I was getting ready to swing a punch at them too but I saw it was Sebastian and I calmed down a little. He shook his head at me; his lips pursed, and pushed me to one side, shoving me down in to a seat.

"What the fuck, man?" he said quietly as I averted my eyes from him. I saw Isabelle with her arms around Clary, who looked horrified. I knew I should feel bad but I was still being controlled by that sick sense of gratification. Alec was talking quietly to my father, who looked like he was about to explode. I watched them carefully as Sebastian spoke to me but I wasn't listening. All I cared about at that moment was the fact that Clary had broke free of Izzy and was half running, half stumbling towards Zach. She dropped to her knees and cupped his bloody face in her hands.

I couldn't believe she'd gone to him.

"Jace," Seb growled and slapped my face, hard. I shot a glare at him.

"What?" I said.

"I said are you gonna tell me what the hell that was about?"

"He called Clary a whore. He got what he deserves."

"I don't care what he called her," Sebastian nearly shouted- a rare sight because he never usually raises his voice above neutral- and I knew he was completely pissed at me, "You don't just go beating people to a pulp- especially people like him."

"What the hell do you mean, people like him?" I hissed. Sebastian looked at me incredulously and shook his head.

"Someone who can afford to get you back. Hard."

"Zach can do what he likes to me but I'm not gonna let him near Clary. He's not going to hurt her again." I said quietly before shoving Sebastian out of the way with my shoulder as I got to my feet. I didn't give him or anyone around me a second glance as I swiped the back of my wrist over a bloody cut on my cheek and stalked away.

I got to the bar and snagged an abandoned half empty tumbler full of whisky. I'd taken maybe a gulp of it before I felt a fist in the back of my hair and my face became acquainted with the wood surface.

"Look whose pathetic now Herondale," Zach growled in my ear. I bit back a groan and kicked back against his knees. They buckled and he stumbled backwards, still not letting go of my hair. I was pretty sure he managed to pull a clump out from the back of my head because it seared painfully- like hot needles were pressing against my skull. I grabbed hold of his wrists and spun myself around so we were glaring each other in the face.

He looked like hell.

"Seriously? You're gonna attack me from behind?" I said just as he let go of my hair with one hand and smacked me in the jaw. I couldn't really feel it because I was still so pumped up on adrenalin but my head whipped back and I knew it was gonna hurt later. Beside myself, I smirked.

"That all you've got?" I taunted, only to receive another harder punch. My nose didn't crunch but I felt a warm flow of blood dripping down my chin. I laughed and shoved him back forcefully. His hands finally left my hair, taking more than a few clumps with him, and he stumbled backwards right in to the waiting hands of an extremely pissed off Sebastian, Alec, Magnus and Simon.

"This isn't over." He growled and somehow managed to pull himself away from the guys.

"Not by a long shot." I promised as he stalked towards the garage, closely followed by his furious mother and father. Before I could be attacked by my own, I shoved my way in to the house and prowled to my guest room.

* * *

**CPOV**

_Tap, tap, tap._

I stood nervously outside Jace's room, chewing on my fingernails. I was still shaking from the fight- from seeing the blood pouring out of Zach's nose and from the moment when Jace's face hit the bar. My stomach had plummeted to somewhere around the region of my toes and it was still hanging around there now. Hesitantly, I reached out and knocked on the door again.

I heard shuffling from the other side of the door and braced myself.

"If that's you out there mom I suggest in the nicest possible way that you save your bitching and moaning for someone else's ears. I'm not interested in hearing you tell me yet again how much of a disappointment I am." Jace's voice said gruffly. I swallowed nervously, my throat dry, and took a breath.

"It's me." I choked out because I was dangerously close to tears. Fights do that to me. And blood. Blood is definitely not my friend.

There was an agonizingly long pause before I heard the flick of the lock. I took that as the okay to go inside, so I did- very slowly. I closed the door behind me and locked it again then leaned heavily against the door, my hands splayed out on the cold wood.

Jace was stood on the other side of the room by the huge bay window with his back to me. His shoulders were stiff and I knew for a fact that he was still raging. I could see a glass tumbler in his hand filled to the brim with brown liquid and judging from the smell, I was pretty sure it was whiskey. Of course that was typical. Jace get's his ego bruised by a bust up and what does he do? He gets drunk.

"If you're here for an apology, you're not going to find one." He said and took a drink, still with his back to me, "I won't apologize for protecting you."

I frowned and shook my head even though he couldn't see.

"I don't want you to apologize. I just wanted to see if you were okay..." I spoke quietly. He shrugged.

"I'm fine."

I raised an eyebrow. I wanted him to turn around so I could see his face. I took a step towards him and reached my hand out lamely, well aware that I couldn't reach him from here but I was scared to get any closer.

"Is this really the time to drink?" I asked.

"I think it's the perfect time to drink. Did you know they keep Ladbybank whisky in the guest rooms? I mean, there's class and then there's the Lightwoods. This shit is expensive." Drawled Jace. He swilled the liquid around in the glass for a moment and then took another huge gulp without even flinching.

"Jace," I said, taking another step closer to him with my eyebrows pulled together in concern.

"Clary." He said back, his voice teasing. I huffed and crossed the rest of the way and put a hand on his shoulder. He didn't pull away but I felt his muscles tense beneath my palm.

"Turn around?" I asked quietly. He shook his head.

"But I'm not pretty anymore." He said sarcastically.

"As if I care."

"You don't?" he asked, a hint of surprise in his voice.

"No, I just want to see your face."

"And here I was thinking you only wanted me for my horrifically good looks."

"At the moment I'm wondering why the hell I'd want you at all. Just stop acting like a five year old and turn around." I snapped, starting to feel irritated. He let out a long, overly dramatic sigh and shrugged.

"Fine. Whatever you say mom." He muttered and set his tumbler down on the chest of draws by the window. He turned to face me, crossing his arms over his chest. I stifled a gasp.

"Told you I wasn't pretty anymore." He cocked an eyebrow with a smirk. I shook my head and reached up to cup his face in my hands.

"Holy crap," I whispered and he grimaced.

"You don't have to be mean about it. It's not that bad." He said defensively. My eyes widened.

It was bad, actually. There was a deep gash on his left cheek from the glass they'd toppled in that I suspected would need a few stitches or at least a hell of a lot of disinfectant and his nose and eyes were already starting to cloud with bruises. They made his eyes look sunken and hollow. I ran my finger over them lightly and he winced.

"Does it hurt?" I asked quietly, watching him with careful eyes.

"Tender. I suppose it'll hurt like a mother later though. Whatever; it was well worth it. _He_ came out way worse."

"You're an ass." I said honestly and he grinned, "That's not something to be proud of Jace. You could have come out a lot worse."

"But I didn't, and I'm fine so you can stop worrying."

"No I can't." I snapped and pushed him to the edge of the bed. He protested as I shoved him hard by the shoulders on to the mattress then pursed his lips and snatched his drink from the table, scowling.

"Christ, you'd think it was your _boyfriend_ I'd just beat up. Do you still have feelings for him? I saw the way you ran to him instead of me."

A spark of anger flared in me and I jabbed his chest with my finger.

"Grow up! Of course I don't have feelings for him. He's a complete asshat and I went to him because he was lying in a pool of blood and broken glass. Think yourself lucky I came up here instead of running off after him!"

Jace didn't answer, but he did silently cock an eyebrow. We stared each other out for a few moments before I sighed.

"Sorry. I'm just worried; I don't mean to sound like a raging bitch queen."

"Sure you don't." He grumbled but I chose to ignore the comment.

"I need to clean up that cut. Is there a first aid kit in here?"

Jace pointed towards the en suit.

"Under the sink." He said softly and I went to fetch it.

There wasn't really that much in the little bag but there was a bottle of antiseptic solution, some cotton balls and a few steri-strips that I could put on the cut for now. I washed my hands in the sink, using a lot of hygiene gel for good measure, and went back in to the main room and set the box beside Jace on the bed. He eyed it and me dubiously and raised his eyebrows again when I pulled on a pair of gloves with a snap.

"Is there an outfit that comes with the package?" he said cockily and I swatted him around the head with the packet of cotton balls.

"You're really annoying, do you know that?"

"Alec tells me frequently. I'm serious about the outfit though. That would be nice."

"Do you want me to leave so your face can catch all kinds of diseases? Even you couldn't rock the rotten flesh look." I said politely, cocking my head to the side. Jace grinned again and kept his mouth shut. With a huge sigh, I set about dousing the cotton balls with the antiseptic solution, trying not to cringe at the thought of the blood. Very slowly, I dabbed the cotton against the edge of his cut. He yelped loudly in my ear and I screamed too, jumping back with my heart in my mouth.

"Ha!" Jace bellowed, creasing over with a fit of laughter, "You should have seen the look on your face! You're too cute, Fray. It's killing me."

"I'm going to be killing you in a second if you don't stop messing with me! Sit still and keep your mouth shut." I hissed, waving the ball of cotton at him as if it could hurt him.

"Yes Nurse Fray." He said with a sly grin and I fought really, really hard not to roll my eyes.

It didn't work.

Again, I started to clean the wound and I felt happier when I saw that it wasn't as deep as I'd first thought. It was only a flesh wound really but still- a flesh wound was more than enough, thank you very much. Jace sat quietly the entire time for once, wincing occasionally at the alcohol touching the open cut. He didn't complain, which was a good job because otherwise I might have been forced to destroy him. Finally, the wound was clean enough and I dug around for the packet of steri-strips and put five along the line of the wound then sat back admiring my handiwork.

Gotta say, I think I did a pretty damn good job.

"There." I said with a tiny smile and took off the gloves and threw them in the trash can. There was nothing I could do about the bruises, but at least his face wouldn't inflate and start pussing which is always a plus in my eyes.

"Am I pretty again?" he asked, standing up to go to the mirror and inspect his face. He grimaced and I shook my head, exasperated. Of course all he cared about was how he looked.

"You didn't stop being pretty in the first place you ass." I said as I sat on the bed. I let myself fall backwards and my head hit the sheets.

"Awh, that's nice. You think I'm pretty." He grinned as he sauntered back in to the bedroom. I rolled my eyes at the ceiling.

"You know for a fact you're gorgeous Herondale." I said. I felt the mattress sink as he came to join me on the bed. He flopped down beside me and took my hand gently in both of his. They rested on his stomach and I felt relaxed for the first time in hours, just concentrating on the feel of his skin on mine and the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed.

"You're right. I am stunningly attractive." He sighed happily. I swatted him with my free hand and we both laughed then fell in to a comfortable silence.

I was just starting to doze off when Jace squeezed my hand tightly. I turned my head to look at him and found him looking back at me with those annoyingly beautiful eyes. For the first time I noticed that he had incredible boy lashes and for a brief second I felt a flare of jealousy. Mine were stubby and small and he got to have long lashes that literally cause a breeze when he blinked? I failed to see how that was fair.

"Thank you," he said honestly and smiled- the real Jace smile that can light up a pitch dark room. I blushed so hard from that one look that I was pretty sure I'd be able to cook a burger on my cheeks. My body tingled all over.

"And I'm sorry," he continued, looking abashed, "I shouldn't have started that fight. I was just so annoyed... I mean, for some reason you seem to like me too and I finally have a chance in hell of getting you to myself and there he is. Always in the way. I couldn't stand it. I just snapped."

My mouth gaped pointlessly for a few moments as my brain scrambled to come up with something to say but in the end I ended up speaking in a language that made absolutely no sense. Jace grinned a little and leaned towards me very slowly. He very lightly let his lips brush against mine- a whisper of a kiss- and I felt my toes curl in a sudden explosion of longing. He sighed.

"I suppose I should go face the wrath of the parental units. This is going to be fun." He grimaced and made to sit up, but I grabbed a handful of his shirt and tugged it gently. He paused and looked back at me and I blushed even more- if that was possible. I was already glowing.

"Maybe we could... stay up here for a little while?" I whispered the question and Jace smiled.

"I was really hoping you'd say that." He said and leaned back down to me and our lips met. I think I actually sighed against his mouth as I wound my arms around his neck and ran my fingers lightly through the curly hairs at the base of his neck.

"I'm still annoyed at you," I said breathlessly after a few minutes. Jace's mouth was exploring my neck and I felt him smile against the skin.

"Yeah?" he muttered as he ran his lips along my collar bone, "How about now?"

"Seriously, I'm really... um... I'm really annoyed," I said. His lips kissed every patch of skin he could find and my mind actually started fogging over. He worked his way along my jaw towards my ear and gently nibbled the lobe. I bit on my lip hard.

"How about now?" he said again and I squeezed my eyes shut tightly. I was angry at him, I was really...

What the hell was I thinking again?

"Still really... anno-" I whispered just as his lips touched my eyelids. I sucked in a breath.

"Am I forgiven yet?" he asked as he worked his way back down to my mouth. I struggled to remember what the hell I was pissed about in the first place.

"I... uh- I just... annoyed..." I stuttered out but he cut me off with a sweet, lingering kiss on the mouth and I was done for.

"Now?" he asked against my lips and I nodded helplessly. He brought his face away from mine and grinned. I missed the feel of his lips on mine already and I found myself searching for them.

"I knew you'd see reason eventually," he said gruffly, his eyes smouldering.

"You don't play fair," I said weakly. He smiled and pressed his lips to mine swiftly.

"Life ain't fair, babe."

"So I see." I said quietly with a small smile. His grin grew for a fraction of a second and then his face fell serious. I frowned at his change in mood and immediately missed the warmth of his body on mine when he sat up and shuffled beside me on bed. I sat up too and looked at him questioningly.

"I know you already know because our friends can't keep secrets to save their damn lives," he began, looking at me as if I was the most precious thing in the world. The air around us seemed to buzz with electricity and I was pretty sure I knew where this conversation was heading, "but I think you need to hear it from me; no games, no wars, just us- like you said outside. I want you to know I don't expect anything back- honestly I'm still trying to get over the fact that you seem to be able to stand the sight of me after how much of an ass I've been in the past," he laughed nervously and ran a hand through his hair. I watched him closely, trying to steady my breathing and he suddenly grabbed my hands in his, his thumb swirling patterns on my skin absently. He looked me right in the eye and took a deep breath.

"Clary... I'm in love with you." He finished and because I'm such a girl, I actually started to cry. Zach had told me he loved me countless times but never once had he said it with such sincerity.

Jace watched me with worried eyes and pulled me closer.

"I'm sorry if I've upset you," he said quietly as he hugged me to his chest and ran his fingers through my hair. I hiccoughed through the stupid tears that were falling and smiled against his chest.

"I'm not upset," I said thickly, "I just... I don't know what to say..." I was being completely honest. I was speechless.

"Say you'll give me a chance. Be my girlfriend." He said so quietly I was sure I hadn't heard right. But I had. To my surprise, I didn't even miss a beat before answering.

"Yeah. I'll give you a chance."

Jace blinked a few times, as if he was trying to process what I'd said to him and then laughed loudly, gathering me up in his arms and hugging me tightly to his chest.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting to hear that from you," he whispered in my ear as he buried his face in my hair. I smiled and kissed his jaw.

"I suppose I was always kind of your girlfriend anyways," I said thoughtfully. He pulled away and raised an eyebrow.

"How'd you figure that?"

I shrugged and pulled him up from the bed, "Only couples argue with as much passion and conviction as we did. We may as well have been married."

"Your logic is way screwier than mine." He pointed out. I smiled and held out a hand- he took it and gave it a quick squeeze.

"Come on boyfriend. Let's go deal with this mess."

"Say that again." Jace grinned. I frowned, unsure what he was talking about.

"Say what again?"

"That I'm your boyfriend."

I laughed lightly and unlocked the door so I could pull it open.

"Jace Herondale is my boyfriend."

"Ha! Now it's official." He said triumphantly and pulled out his phone. He stood in the doorway, tapping his fingers on the touch screen.

"What're you doing?" I asked. He looked up briefly and smirked.

"Changing my Facebook status to 'in a relationship'"

I looked at him incredulously.

"I have no idea how you had the nerve to say Simon is obsessed. You're just as bad as he is!"

"Nuh-uh, I'm not. I'm being smart."

"Really?" I said sarcastically. He shoved his phone back in to his pocket and grabbed my hand again.

"Of course I am. If I change my status now it means the girls and boys who stalk me know to back off." He said matter-of-factly.

"You have stalkers?"

"Of course I do. I'm Jace Herondale." He said because, apparently, that was supposed to be obvious- like I should have expected people to follow him around.

"You're also a complete idiot." I said bluntly, and he nodded in agreement. At least we had that small fact cleared up.

"You gotta admit it's endearing though." He grinned. I shook my head with a smile.

"Annoyingly so. Come on- we need to get this over with so we can salvage what's left of the day. The pool has been calling my name since I got here."

"Within minutes of us getting together you're already offering to strip down to your personals for me?" Jace said, a playful smirk on his face. I rolled my eyes but couldn't help laughing at him. He fist pumped the air looking like he'd just hit the jackpot.

"Holy crap, I'm _good_."

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**There you go- they're together! One more chapter 'till Paris, I think. **

**Let me know what you thought :)  
**

**ML**


	9. All At Once

**A/N: I don't own TMI, only this plot :)**

**Hi guys. I'm sorry it's taken so long to update- I was in hospital for a week and I've only just started to feel like I can be bothered to do anything again. But here's the next chapter- I'm sorry if there's any errors and what not, I don't have the energy to read over it lol :) **

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**Chapter Song: All At Once- The Fray**

**JPOV**

For a happy minute or so I'd managed to delude myself in to thinking that maybe- just maybe- no one had actually noticed the show Zach and I had put on earlier. _Of course_ I wasn't so lucky; the shrill war cry that erupted from my mother's mouth as soon as Clary and I stepped out of the house and on to the poolside told me otherwise.

"JONATHAN CHRISTOPHER HERONDALE!"

I swore under my breath and squeezed my eyes shut for a long moment before I scoped her out. It didn't take me that long to spot her since there may as well have been big ass WMD's sticking out of her shoulder blades, all programmed to hit me within seconds and leave nothing but scorch marks and maybe a scrap of material in my wake. She stood by the bar surrounded by at least six empty wine glasses and my eyes widened as I took in this fact with a heavy, sinking heart. If she'd been drinking then I was definitely in a hell of a lot of trouble- as in potentially life threatening trouble. My mom never drank alcohol.

Ever.

Granted, this is mostly because she was popping so many prescription meds that she'd likely drop down dead as soon as the alcohol touched her lips because it would trigger one almighty Molotov cocktail in her stomach, but at the moment that was a moot point. My main point of focus was trying to figure out a way to avoid total annihilation.

I'm not going to lie; it didn't seem all that possible given the present circumstances.

I swallowed the dry lump in my throat and waved my hand lamely in her direction, trying to look pleasant as I prepared the 'No mother, you imagined the whole thing' speech that I'd used plenty of times when I'd been living at home. I had the sinking feeling that this time it just wouldn't work. There were too many witnesses around to contradict my lie.

She let out a shriek of annoyance and marched towards us, looking like she was about to cheerfully beat me to death using one of my own limbs. Seriously, I half expected her to pull out her lipstick and draw war stripes across her cheeks. Magnus caught my eye and drew a finger slowly across his throat, mouthing the words 'You're so dead' at me with a gleeful smile.

I was glad my imminent death was pleasing to him.

"Hello mother," I said cheerfully as she came to a stop in front of me, her shaking hands planted on her hips. Clary stiffened and I gripped her tightly to my side, dropping a swift kiss on the top of her head. My mother eyed us for a moment before she pinched her nose between her thumb and forefinger and took in a long, calming breath.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself, Jonathan?" she asked in that low, calm voice that meant she was about to go all guerrilla on my ass. I shrugged as nonchalantly as possible and ran my free hand through my hair.

"That depends. Have you taken your Prozac today?" I asked conversationally.

Was it the right thing to say? Absolutely not. My mother's face blanched in to this horrible puce colour and her normally wide (totally surgically enhanced) eyes drew in to slits. But, was it worth it I hear you cry? Fuck yeah! Every single second of torture I'd receive was worth seeing that look on my tyrant's—_mother's_ face.

Clary let out a strangled snort at my side and quickly excused herself, bobbing her head at my mother as she went. I watched her retreat to where Izzy was stood with Simon and grinned when she looked over her shoulder at me, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. She quickly grabbed a glass of water and took a long drink, giving herself something to do with her hands. I looked back to my mother's livid face and raised an eyebrow. I know I was completely aggravating the situation, like a band-aid on a burn, but I figured I might as well enjoy my demise; _qui sera, sera_ and all that crap.

"Once again, you have managed to completely embarrass yourself. Is it impossible for you to step outdoors and act like a regular human being?" she hissed and I narrowed my eyes.

"If I was raised by actual human beings that question might be legitimate but I'm pretty sure my mother is a pod person, _so_..."

"Jonathan!"

"It's _Jace_, mother, and in answer to your question; I haven't embarrassed myself. I've embarrassed you."

"Well what do you expect? I have a delinquent for a son." She said, swaying slightly on the spot. All I could think about was how awesome it would be if she fell in to the pool. If I just pushed her a little to the left...

"I can't believe you attacked your _best friend_, and in front of all of these important people no less!"

I let out a low laugh and shook my head with a bitter smile.

"Zach and I haven't been friends since High School mom. Alec, Magnus, Sebastian and Simon are my best friends and if you paid the slightest bit of notice to anyone but yourself, you'd know that. And frankly, I don't give a damn about all of these 'important people'. He called my girlfriend a whore and she's all that matters."

My mom raised her eyebrows and glanced a look at Clary, who was trying (and failing) to pretend she was engrossed in a conversation with Isabelle.

"Your girlfriend? The little redhead?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes mother, my girlfriend." I snapped and sunk in to a chair tiredly. Conversations with her were always so damn draining.

"She looks common." She said snottily. I shot her a glare and shook my head.

"You know, for an upscale woman you sure do have downscale manners. You need to stop sticking your nose in the air at people, mom. You're starting to look like a giraffe." I said snidely. She glared back at me with just as much venom and sniffed.

"I was merely stating my opinion."

"And I'm trying really hard to see this from your perspective, but seriously mom? I can't seem to get my head that far up my-"

"Jace, Celine," a low voice said from behind me and I shot around to see my father rubbing his temples tiredly. "Enough. The pair of you are disturbing a perfectly good party."

My mom looked at him, appalled, "I'm not disturbing anything. Your son already managed to do that."

"_Our_ son," he said pointedly and placed his hand on my shoulder, "was defending his girlfriend. As much as I disapprove of the method he used, he had every right to be angry."

"Stephen-" my mom began as I grinned at her but dad held up a hand and she snapped her mouth shut.

"We'll discuss this later. For now I would like to meet this charming lady you defended." My dad said softly. I smiled at him and nodded my head. I felt sorry for him a lot of the time; he was always stuck between me and mom. No wonder he was always away on business trips.

"Clary?" I shouted and she span around immediately- I _knew_ she been listening. I waved my hand, indicating for her to come over and she nodded minutely, giving Izzy a grimace.

"Dad, mom," I said as she settled herself tentatively against my side, "this is Clarissa Fray. Clary, this is my mom and dad."

Clary inclined her head respectfully and smiled.

"It's great to meet you, Mr and Mrs Herondale."

"And you, Clarissa." my dad smiled and held out his hand for her to shake. She took it quickly and then turned to my mom.

"You have a wonderful son Mrs Herondale." She said nervously and held her hand out to shake my mom's, who just looked at it curiously for a moment before scanning Clary's dress.

"Fray. I know that name. Who did you say your parents were?" My mom said bluntly as her eyes rested on Clary's. Her hand faltered and she dropped it awkwardly to her side, running her palm over the soft material of her dress.

"She didn't." I snapped. Clary shrugged and squeezed my hand.

"My mom is Jocelyn Fray and my step father is Luke Garroway." She said quietly. My mom waited for some kind of embellishment and I sighed.

"Mom, Clary is Jocelyn Fray's daughter—the artist you commissioned for the house in New York." I explained to my mother. At the mention of Jocelyn's profession, her interest seemed to peak. She managed a half drunken smile, at least, even though it did look like a snide grimace.

"Wonderful woman. Very talented." She said with what was almost an approving tone and I rolled my eyes. It was just like her to be interested once she knew Clary's mom was famous for something.

"Would you mind if Clary and I joined our friends? You can meet her properly some other time..." I said awkwardly as my mom appraised Clary with a new, possessive light.

"That's fine. How about this weekend?" she said quickly. Clary smiled but I shook my head.

"This weekend is a no go. We leave for Paris late Friday night."

"Then Friday lunch. We can meet for tea." She pressed harder.

"Clary has to work this Friday-"

"No, no. It's fine. My mom said I can get the day off to pack and stuff. Lunch would be great, Mrs Herondale."

"Excellent. There's a wonderful French bistro on Madison Avenue where we could meet at, say, noon? How does that work for the pair of you?"

I was about to object but Clary looked so happy that it didn't feel right to crush whatever dream she was harbouring in that creative little head of hers.

"That's fine, Mrs Herondale. It's been a pleasure, and you Mr Herondale."

"Please, call me Stephen," my dad said and he picked up her hand and pressed his lips to it gently before dropping it. Clary blushed and I scowled a little. That was _my_ blush.

We said our goodbyes pretty soon after that, but not before mom warned me that '_this conversation wasn't finished'_ and my dad gushed on how I'd found a keeper. Really, it was all very embarrassing but at least it made Clary smile. She gripped my hand as we wandered back to Isabelle and Simon, a serene look on her face.

"Your parents are nice." She said.

"Sure, if you compare them to a gang of blood thirsty zombies." I said sarcastically and plucked Simon's drink from his hands. He protested but I brushed him away and nuzzled my face tiredly in the crook of Clary's neck.

"Honestly, I think you're overreacting." Clary said as she stroked my hair. I laughed in to her skin, feeling the goose flesh appear almost immediately.

"My dad's fine, I'll give you that, but my mom..." I trailed off sadly, unable to come up with a suitable description for that kind of abomination. In all honesty, I'd rather take on the zombies than my mom. Alec and I had sat for hours discussing what we'd do in a Zombie apocalypse while playing on Resident Evil so at least I'd be kind of prepared. There was no kind of preparation for facing my mom.

"Oh! How about... she's the real life equivalent of Patrick Bateman." Simon said with a grin. Clary swatted his shoulder with a frown but I shrugged. It was pretty much true. I had a weird feeling she went to sleep at night with a copy of _American Psycho_ tucked under her pillow, too.

"Or what about; she has more issues than National Geographic." Isabelle chirped up with a grin.

"You guys are horrible!" Clary laughed, "She seemed perfectly nice."

"So do Koalas but they're violent little suckers if you get them riled up." I pointed out matter-of-factly. She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"You'd better play nice on Friday." She said sternly. Izzy raised an eyebrow.

"Friday?"

"Clary and I are having a _lunch date_ with my parents." I said dryly, pulling a face over her shoulder at Simon. He bit his bottom lip to stop from laughing and looked at Clary.

"Are you sure you're ready for that? You've never met Mrs Herondale before today. You don't know what she's capable of."

"Seriously Simon? You make it sound like she's going to feed me to some rabid dogs then roll around laughing as I cry out in pain." Clary said incredulously.

"She'd never do that," I said. Simon and Izzy nodded in agreement before the latter added,

"She's too classy to roll on the ground. She'd sit in a wicker chair with a flute of champagne instead."

"Maybe a little Einaudi playing in the background." Simon said.

"With her own live orchestra playing it for her. She's too _Herondale_ for a stereo." I stuck my chin in the air with a grin. Simon and Izzy laughed but Clary continued to scowl.

"I'll make my own judgements, thank you very much." She snapped before grabbing Izzy's hand and pulling her towards the house, grumbling about sunshine and pool's and jerky boyfriends.

"Don't miss me too much while you're gone, baby!" I called after her teasingly and grinned.

"Baby? Already? You've only been her boyfriend for like... thirty minutes." Simon said. I looked at him out of the corner of my eyes suspiciously.

"How do you know I'm her boyfriend?"

Simon waved his phone in my face, "Facebook told me."

"Really? At a party? You're that sad?" I asked, my voice incredulous.

"Dude, don't judge me. You were on it too."

I thought about it for a second then tilted my head.

"Fair play, my friend. Fair play."

"Congrats," he said, tipping his imaginary hat in my direction. I raised his drink in acknowledgement and smiled, leaning lazily against the arm of a chair, "It's about time it happened."

I shrugged and took a shallow drink, "It was all a well refined process of wearing her down."

"A refined process that took six years to succeed." He pointed out unhelpfully.

"It was all part of the plan." I said defensively. Simon shook his head with a grin and sank in to a chair beside me.

"Some plan."

"Hey! At least I had a plan, Mr I-don't-have-a-clue-what-I-want." I griped. Simon's face flushed and he looked away, making out as if he was watching the old hag who was coming on to Magnus a couple metres away.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He said stubbornly. I rolled my eyes.

"What's the deal? Do you want Izzy or Maia? It's not fair to string them along like that when you know Isabelle is clearly in love with you. God knows why..."

"I'm sorry... what?" Simon said thickly, looking at my over the top of his glasses with a dumbstruck expression. My eyes widened.

"I'm pretty sure that wasn't supposed to come out of my mouth." I said quietly to myself; Izzy had told me that in confidence. I wanted to punch myself in the face for being so docile but someone had already done that today and I wasn't sure I'd still be gorgeous if I set myself loose on my own body.

I settled for the obvious alternative- facepalming.

"Jace what did you say?" Simon asked slowly. I looked up and feigned ignorance.

"What did I say when?"

"Just then. What did you say?"

"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Jace-" he said, his tone warning. I shook my head and crossed my arms.

"Even if I did know what you were talking about I imagine it would be none of my nosey-ass business, would it?"

"Just tell me what-"

I stuck my fingers in my ears and hummed loudly to myself because I can be childish like that sometimes...

A lot of the time.

Whatever.

"You're such an ass," he grumbled. I pulled my fingers away from my ears and looked at him questioningly.

"You want my ass? Well Simon, I'm sure if I swung that way you'd be the first person I offered it too."

He groaned and snatched his glass back from my hand and took a long pull, his face screwing up in distaste. We were quiet for a few minutes and I thought for sure he'd dropped the subject until he sighed loudly, grabbing my attention.

"I suppose I should talk to her?" he said, though it was more of a question than a statement. I nodded solemnly and got to my feet.

"I suppose you should, Romeo," I said as I stood up, noticing the two girls coming back out of the house with a grin, "and now's your chance."

"I shouldn't... not when she's..." he stammered, seeing Izzy stood in a skimpy blue and white bikini, tossing her hair over her shoulder and pushing her sun glasses over her eyes.

"Half naked?" I said jokingly. Simon nodded with a gulp and followed me as I wandered towards Clary. I tried to be reasonable and keep my eyes focused on her head, but it didn't happen the way I planned. I found myself scanning her body, taking in the emerald green polka dot bikini with greedy eyes. When I was close enough I pulled her in to my chest and buried my face in her hair.

"Hey," she laughed and wrapped her arms around my waist, looking up at me from beneath her eyelashes.

"Hey yourself," I smiled and pressed my lips gently to hers. She grinned against my mouth then ran her fingers gently across the cut on my cheek. I winced against the pressure and she frowned.

"Sorry," she said and kissed me again before untangling herself and looking at Izzy and Simon.

"Why does he look like he's about to pee himself?" she asked bluntly.

"I think they're about to have 'the talk'" I said. She glanced at me and grinned.

"What kind of talk? Pretty sure Izzy knows all about the birds and the bees."

I nudged her and rolled my eyes.

"It's more like _personal_ birds and bees."

"Oh! You mean... he's going to choose?" she asked, eyes wide and shocked.

"I don't know. Maybe. He just said he needs to talk to her." I shrugged.

"How did you convince him to do that? God knows he'd never do it without a push."

"I _may_ have accidentally mentioned that Izzy is in love with him..." I said quietly. Clary swatted my arm and scowled.

"I can't believe you told him! She was going to do that herself."

"I said it was an accident! I wasn't thinking."

"You rarely do so I don't know why I'm shocked." She teased.

"Whatever. I'm not going to argue with a girl wearing a polka dot bikini. It just can't be done." I sniffed and she smiled before tossing her towel on to a lounger and laying it out.

"You shouldn't argue with me anyway. It's a lost cause since I'm always right."

I cocked an eyebrow.

"Are you?"

"Of course I am. My superior wit and intellect ensures my rightness." She said matter-of-factly.

"Superior my ass. I could beat you in to the ground with my rapier wit."

"But you agree that you're not as smart as me? Good. I'm glad we agree on this fact." Clary grinned and kissed the corner of my mouth quickly. Before she could move away, I grabbed her waist and caught her mouth with my own, tipping her head back so I could deepen the kiss.

"Ew. Gross. Get a room." Someone said behind me and I glanced over my shoulder, keeping Clary trapped against my chest.

"I was wondering where you were hiding," I grinned when I saw who it was. Clary peeked over my shoulder and smiled. Max ran a hand through his mess of dark brown hair then plucked out one of his headphones and looked between me and Clary curiously before shrugging.

"I've been in my room on the Xbox. Old ladies kept pinching my cheeks and doing that sick thing where they spit on a tissue and wipe your face with it." Max's face scrunched up and he mock-gagged, "I have to come out every now and again though so mom doesn't think I've died or something. When did you finally 'fess up, by the way?"

"Fess up about what?" I asked.

"That you like Clary."

Clary laughed at my side and shook her head, "Even Max new?"

"'Course he did. Young Maximus here is my wing man. All the times he acted cute and cuddly was just so it would soften you up when I came in the room. He's really a brute, aren't you kid?" I said, ruffling his hair. He nodded with a smile.

"Yup," he agreed, popping the 'p' and pulling out a rolled up comic from the back of his pants. He settled himself in the lounger beside Clary's and opened it up, shoving his glasses up to the bridge of his nose with one long finger.

"Hey Max? You're reading that comic backwards. You start at the front, not the back." I said. He looked up briefly with a small smile and shook his head. His eyes darted to Clary and she grinned.

"No Jace. Max is reading manga. You start at the back and read from right to left. You'd know this if you had an ounce of common sense, thus backing the issue of my superior intelligence." She said.

"Burn," Max said cheerfully and slapped Clary's palm in a low five.

"Dude, seriously. You're supposed to be my wing man, not my girlfriends. What happened to loyalty, man?"

"Don't be sour Jace. It's not Max's fault you're an asshat." Isabelle said as she strode towards us, a scowl on her face. I raised an eyebrow at her and she shook her head, grabbing Clary's hand.

"Pool time," she snipped and dragged Clary towards the water. I saw Clary's eyes search for Simon and I turned to find him too. It took a second to spot him slipping through the patio door, running a hand through his hair and frowning.

* * *

**CPOV**

Izzy all but pushed me in to the water and I shrieked as the cold hit my skin. She descended the steps gracefully, pulling her hair in to an elastic bobble and looked at me through narrow eyes as I glared at her, my hair plastered over my face making me look like Cousin It from _the Adam's Family._

"What?" she asked and I rolled my eyes, pushing my hair back out of my face.

"What crawled up your ass and died?" I said bitterly. She shrugged and leaned against the side of the pool.

"A rat named Simon Lewis."

"Ah. What did he say?" I asked carefully. She huffed and splashed the water with her hands.

"He told me he really, really likes me but he's _not in a good place right now_. Please! As if I've never heard that line before. It's only topped by 'it's not you, it's me' on the horrific turn down list. I'm so mad at him!"

I grimaced and took her hand, squeezing it gently.

"I'm sorry Iz." Was all I could think of to say. She sighed and gave me a small smile, squeezing my hand in return.

"It's not your fault. Well it is- he's your stupid friend- but you can't help him being a complete moron."

"He is kind of a moron..." I said thoughtfully and Izzy smiled, "Did he say anything else?"

"Just that he had some things he needed to sort out- that I should give him time. Well, I've given him enough time already. I'm not going to wait around forever for him. I'm not as pathetic as Jace."

"Hey, that's my boyfriend you're mocking." I said jokingly. She shrugged.

"Like I care. Just because you're dating now doesn't mean he's any less of a pathetic loser."

"True," I sighed and Izzy laughed.

"We have the worst taste in men. You're with a guy who's so dense light bends around him and I'm in love with the most indecisive man in history. You know, he actually said to me the reason he went with Maia in the first place was because he thought we were on a break. It's like a freaking _Friends _episode. But I totally have better hair than Jennifer Aniston. And no nineties wardrobe. And I'm far more awesome."

"And modest." I added sarcastically. She grinned and twirled a lock of her raven coloured hair around her finger.

"Modesty is boring." She mused.

* * *

I buried my toes in the sand, watching the grains fall over my skin in the flickering light of the fire. Jace lay beside me, humming quietly to himself as he watched the stars. He held my hand loosely in his, tracing circles over and over again and making my skin tingle. Beside me Aline was talking to Sebastian, who'd had to remind her at least three times in their conversation that they had in fact met before today. She couldn't understand how she'd never noticed him but I helpfully suggested that it might have been because she was usually hanging off my boyfriends face whenever we were all together.

She agreed with me, which was nice, and went back to winning over Seb.

Izzy was avoiding Simon even though he kept trying to talk to her. He sat faithfully beside her and waited patiently for her to stop talking about clothes with Magnus, though she never did. Alec and Max were laughing like maniacs as they cooked random bits of crap on the fire; so far they'd skewered a shoe, three cans of beer and some bits of plastic that let out a disgusting smell when they burned. Max had managed to burn the sleeve of his sweater and the top corner of his comic book had scorched away, but he looked stupidly happy about this fact. I was starting to think he was as big of a pyromaniac as Magnus.

The thought was terrifying.

Jace shifted a little at my side and I looked down at his face. His eyes were barley open and his lips were curled up in to a ghost of a smile; his breathing steady and even. I slid down in to the sand, resting my head against his chest and curling myself in to his side. I flopped my arm over his stomach and he dropped a soft kiss on the top of my head. I hummed happily and pulled his sweater a little tighter around my body.

"Penny for your thoughts?" I asked quietly. He picked up my hand and twined his fingers with mine.

"Just thinking about Paris. It's going to be awesome."

"Mhm," I agreed.

"Wanna know what the best part will be?" he asked, his voice vibrating through his chest.

"What's that?"

He turned his head to face me and smiled gently.

"I'll be there with you."

* * *

**Nyawh. Jace is a sap :) I hope it was alright- let me know and review!**

**ML**


	10. Where I Want To Be

**A/N: Don't own it.**

* * *

**Chapter Song: Where I want to be- Dangerous Summer**

**JPOV**

"Is she okay?" Alec asked me curiously as he watched Clary out of the corner of his eyes. I glanced at her too and grimaced. She'd barely made a noise since we'd gone back to her apartment earlier and she'd only move if she really had too. I was starting to think she'd died in the last few hours and I just hadn't noticed.

That made me a bad boyfriend, right? Hm.

"Not sure. She's been like this since our lunch date with my parents." I explained, running a hand through my hair with a frown. He made a sympathetic face and went back to ripping up his napkin.

"At least we know she's still alive. I mean, her are eyes are open." Magnus drawled, looking over the top of his magazine with curious eyes. I raised an incredulous eyebrow at his statement.

"Magnus... some people die with their eyes open." I said slowly. He scrunched up his nose in distaste.

"Really? That's creepy."

Simon snickered, "Just how exactly did you get in to college?"

"I refuse to answer that question in front of Alec." He answered smoothly, setting down the magazine and twirling a strand of hair around one long, slender finger with a smile hitching up the corners of his mouth, "Anyway, I think we should poke her and see if she attacks. I'm kind of worried; maybe she really is dead?" Magnus suggested with his usual uninterested tone. Isabelle huffed, snatched the magazine from the table and clipped him around the back of the head with it.

"She's a woman not a wild animal you tool."

He shrugged and popped a chip in to his mouth.

"I fail to see the difference. All you women are the same; you're just lions with lip gloss and Valentino purses."

"Like you can talk, you big queen. If you weren't my brother's boyfriend, I think I'd have slaughtered you by now for stealing my accessories." She said matter-of-factly before she stood up and rounded the table. Magnus watched her warily but she walked straight by him and dropped to her knees in front of Clary.

"Hey, it's time to stop hyperventilating and come back to the real world now Clary. Can you do that for me?" she asked in a voice similar to that of a crooning old woman, holding Clary's chin between her thumb and pointer finger. I cringed away from the sickly sweet tone, half expecting her to lick the corner of a handkerchief and wipe Clary's face with her spit.

I totally wouldn't be kissing her for a long time if that was the case.

"Stop treating her like a kid, Iz." Simon said tiredly, earning himself a killer glare because Isabelle was still refusing to talk to him. He mumbled a quick apology and took a swig of his coffee, managing to spill most of the mouthful down his clean white shirt. He cursed and Izzy grinned triumphantly before turning back to Clary.

"People who act like children deserve to be treated like children. You can stop sulking and start being excited for Paris now. I'm sure the lunch with _its_ parents wasn't even that bad." She said, jabbing her thumb over her shoulder in my direction.

"I have a name," I protested as Clary knocked Izzy's hand away from her chin lethargically, "and, for your information, it really was that bad. My mom interrogated her within an inch of her life. It was like she'd forgotten how to be nice to a person, _not_ that she ever knew in the first place. She even asked where Clary bought the underwear she was wearing and lectured when they weren't designer or whatever. Like I care, they're only going to come off sooner or later any-"

"Shut up or your chances of _ever_ getting past first base with me will be none existent." Clary deadpanned; her voice was soft and quiet and eyes were fixed blankly on the carry-on luggage at her feet. I blinked slowly at her comment, taking a moment to process it before narrowing my eyes at her.

"Oh good. She's still alive." Magnus said, grinning cattishly at me before he turned his attention to Clary, "I see your rapier wit is still intact? Wonderful. I'm in for a treat over the next two weeks."

"Seriously, how do you know what words like 'rapier' mean but still not know that some people die with their eyes open? It's impossible." Isabelle said, baffled. Magnus turned his head to her slowly and cocked it to the side.

"Do _you_ know what rapier means, Isabelle?" he asked silkily. Izzy blushed and turned her head away.

"That's beside the point."

"As I recall," Alec piped up, "you once said that people who eat too much fish have blue nose bleeds so you can't really say anything bad about Magnus just because he didn't know that people can die with their eyes open."

"You said what?" Clary asked blandly, turning her eyes away from her carryon luggage and raising her brows at her blushing best friend. Izzy huffed quietly and flopped back on her seat, snatching the napkin from Alec's hands and tearing it to pieces herself.

"I was fifteen, okay? I was stupid then-"

"Then?" I cut in quietly, earning myself a glare. I shrugged it off with a grin.

"_As I was saying_, I was stupid then and that idiot Eric convinced me it was true."

"Hey, Eric was my friend." Simon moaned.

"Like I said. He was an idiot." Izzy said with a bittersweet smile, her eyes tight.

"You know what? I want to talk to you. Now." Simon dropped the book he was reading in to his bag and stood up, folding his arms across his chest with a frown on his face. Isabelle crossed her legs and turned away from him.

"I'm sorry. I don't feel like chatting"

Simon shook his head and looked up to the airport ceiling with a frown.

"I don't even know why you're angry anymore. I didn't _do_ anything." He said angrily. Isabelle looked at him with a glare and flipped her hair.

"That's the thing. You _didn't do anything_. You didn't explain anything, you didn't give me any inclination as to what was going to happen; you just weren't in a _good place_."

Simon's head snapped to her and he smiled bitterly, his mouth twisted in to a sad line.

"_That's_ why you've been putting me through hell for the past week? I asked you to wait for a while. I told you how much I like you. Did you know I broke it off with Maia _for you_? Of course you didn't because you won't even listen to a _word_ I have to say. Smooth, Iz. Real smooth." He picked up his bag with a swipe while we all watched him warily. I'd never, ever seen Simon blow up like this. His face was weirdly pale and his hands were shaking.

"Let me know when you grow up a bit and want to talk like an adult." He said before turning to the rest of us, "I'm going for a walk."

With a nod of his head, he swept away from our seats in the airport departure lounge and out of sight. We were all quiet for a moment before Clary cleared her throat.

"What just happened?" she asked quietly. Magnus looked horrified as he leaned back in his seat, watching the place where Simon had disappeared.

"I have no idea. I think he just pulled that argument out of his ass."

Isabelle, who was also still watching the place where Simon had gone, shook her head in disbelief.

"He broke up with Maia?"

"I guess so." I shrugged. Isabelle bit her bottom lip and tugged on the end of her long pony tail.

"Why didn't he tell me?" she asked quietly.

"Well you haven't exactly let him say two words to you since we were at our parents' house. Sounds like he's been _trying_ to tell you all week." Alec said with a grimace. Isabelle looked at him briefly and scowled.

"I'm... I'm going to take a walk. See you soon." She muttered before grabbing her purse and stalking away in the opposite direction. The four of us kept quiet for a moment, staring at each other as if the pair of them had just sprouted four extra heads before Clary slapped her hands against her thighs and attempted to smile.

"Well. Wasn't that fun?" she said half-heartedly, trying to lighten the dark mood that had descended on our table. Alec glanced at her with raised eyebrows.

"If that's your definition of fun I'd like to see how you react to car accidents."

Clary sighed before turning to me and tilting her head to the side.

"Since walks are so popular this evening, do you want to go for one?" she asked me. I nodded silently and offered a hand. She took it and waved to Magnus and Alec who were already deep in conversation, both scowling and paying us no attention.

We wandered through the rows of airport shops and take out stalls in silence until Clary sighed heavily. I watched her out of the corner of my eyes; she was gnawing on her bottom lip with her gaze cast sombrely to the floor.

"Y'know, if you don't stop chewing on your lip you're going to drive me crazy." I said bluntly, stopping mid stride. A gray haired business man in some over pressed black suit who'd been walking behind us glared at me for my abrupt stop and circled around us, grumbling to himself in what I thought to be Italian. I smiled in his direction before turning my attention back to Clary.

"Sorry." She said lamely, I rolled my eyes and led her to a row of chairs opposite a woman who'd fallen asleep in her chair, leaving her irate husband to watch three squirming and screaming kids. Clary eyed them dubiously but I shoved her in to the seat and knelt in front of her.

"What's up? Is it the thing with Iz and Simon? 'Cause if it is, you know they'll sort it sooner or later."

"It's not that, but it is a bit of a pain. I hope it doesn't ruin Izzy's birthday..." She said with a shrug. I waved a hand.

"I doubt it. They just need to talk. I don't really care about that at the moment, to be honest. I want to know what's up with you. Is it about the meal with my parents today? I know they were brutal with the questions, but you can't say I didn't warn you and it was your idea to meet with them in the-"

"Jace, it's not your parents. True, I might have freaked out and overreacted about that but I'm okay with it now. You were right, for what it's worth; your mom-"

"Is a head case."

Clary grinned to the floor, "I was going to say intense, but that's your call. I think she's only looking out for you. It's not bad for her to want the best for her only son."

"What's best for her son is not grilling his girlfriend to the point that her head explodes. I'd rather not have to date a dead person. I love you and all, but necrophilia is not my style." I teased. She rolled her eyes a picked at a loose string on her sweater.

"Your humour is mildly depressing."

"To each their own. So what's up?" I asked again, feeling the edges of frustration melt in to my tone. Clary scrunched her nose and watched one of the little kids opposite us use her father as a jungle gym until she smiled wearily and turned her eyes to me.

"I'm scared of flying."

I paused for a moment with my eyebrows raised in to the hair that covered most of my forehead and then grinned.

"You are? I didn't peg you for that kind of person." I teased. She punched my shoulder with mock anger and narrowed her eyes.

"What's not to be terrified of? I'll be sitting in a tin can for almost nine hours. A tin can that only stays in the air because of some dead guy's equation. I am _not _comfortable with that, Jace."

I snorted, "That dead guy's equation- or a pair of dead guys' equation, if I remember rightly- has been working just great for the last hundred-odd years. You have nothing to worry about. Unless, of course, they forgot to put in a left phalange. That could be problematic."

"What? A left what? Is it important?"

I stared at her incredulously for a minute before grabbing hold of her hands and pulling her to her feet. I wrapped my arms around her waist and smiled in to her hair.

"Jesus... you obviously didn't watch _Friends_ when you were younger. What kind of person _are_ you?"

"Oh, shut up and let's go back." She said moodily, but as she drew back I saw the smile on her face. I bent down and caught her lips quickly with my own, cupping her chin gently with my hand before stepping back and wandering off towards the others. Clary caught up with me a second later and slipped her hand in to my own.

"It's not nice to leave your girlfriend standing there like that." She observed. I shrugged nonchalantly.

"I'm not a nice person, generally."

"Whatever. Hey, do you remember what flight number we are? We must be due for boarding soon. We've been sat in here forever."

"Um... flight one hundred and eighty,"

Clary stopped walking and looked at me with wide eyes until I broke out in to loud laughter. She gasped and narrowed her eyes as she pushed me, making me laugh harder.

"Jace, I am going to _kill_ you!"

**CPOV**

After Jace's stupid jibes about flight one-eighty I did nothing but think about the various ways I would die according to that move _Final Destination_. So far I'd been sucked out of a window, exploded due to lack of cabin pressure, and oddly enough, taken a stiletto heel to the face. I pulled my seatbelt tightly as the plane began its taxi towards the runway, almost cutting off the circulation in the lower part of my body but not giving a damn because I was starting to hyperventilate. Seriously, my palms were sweating, my entire body was shaking and my chest felt like it was a spring that had been pressed down and needed to uncoil.

Jace, of course, was laughing in my face. Loudly. With badly disguised _glee_.

I swore to myself that I would _end_ him by the time we got up in the air.

Clutching my barf bag tightly in one hand and the arm rest in the other, I turned myself so I was facing away from him and his oh-so-punchable face and waited for the sinking feeling in my stomach that meant we were taking off to appear. I could still hear him chortling away in my ear in the seat to my right, but there was nothing I could do about that. The air hostess had informed me already (after shamelessly checking out my boyfriend) that I couldn't use my iPod until the plane was up in the air.

She was next on my hit list. In fact, I was sure I was going to use one of Jace's limbs to beat her with. It would entertain Iz and Magnus, anyway. She was still keeping a stellar silence as she sat in the chair beside Simon, who was pointedly looking out of the window in to the night. Magnus looked incredibly bored as usual, fiddling with the rings on his fingers as Alec read the in-flight movie guide. I sighed and let my head flop against the comfort of my headrest, closing my eyes and pretending that I wasn't starting the ascent in to the air in the middle of a stupid tin can.

I must have fallen asleep at some point or other because when I woke up I was sprawled all over Jace like a really bad case of herpes. He'd pulled up the arm rest that divided our two spacious seats and my entire upper body was slumped against his thighs and, even worse, my mouth had dropped open as I slept and there was a wet patch on the knee of his jeans. I didn't even want to comprehend the thought of Jace seeing me drool in my sleep. It was enough to bring on an all over body blush.

I stayed put for a few minutes, not daring to move for fear of him seeing the dribble patch and being completely grossed out by me and hauling out of our relationship so he could pursue some hot, cultured, intelligent Parisian girl. In my mind she was called Lorraine, had this gorgeous main of jet black hair that was twisted in to an elegant knot on the back of her head and smoked twenty cigarettes a day while reciting poetry in a Beat Club every night.

For a moment I felt a flare of scolding hot jealousy for the girl my mind had created before I realised how stupid I was being and cast Lorraine to the side of my mind so I could focus on a more pressing matter.

The drool.

I could pretend I was still sleeping and just casually wipe it with my sleeve, but it's not like it would get rid of the mark. I was in a bit of a bind.

"I know you're awake," his voice said softly just above my ear. I jolted upright and took him in with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry," I said without thinking, pointing to the drool. He plucked out his headphones and followed the line of my finger, taking in the stain with an arched eyebrow.

"There are no words for how disgusting you are." He deadpanned. I felt my face heat up and I rolled my eyes to try and hide how _mortified_ I was.

"Yes there are. You just never learnt them."

He popped a peanut in to his mouth with a smile and waved the bag at me. I shook my head and crossed my legs on the seat so I was facing him.

"How long was I out?"

He checked his watch, "About four and a half hours. I've watched two in-flight movies already."

"Wow, that long? I'm a machine."

"Well it has been a long day. The other four passed out not long after you."

I glanced at them with a small smile. Magnus was curled up like a cat in his boat sized seat, loosely holding on to Alec who was still ramrod straight even in his sleep. His face was relaxed though, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Isabelle and Simon were slumped against each other, both frowning at whatever their dreams were showing them. I scrunched my nose up at the pair and turned back to Jace.

"What about you? Aren't you tired?"

"Nope," he shook his head and took a swig of his energy drink.

"I _wonder_ why. That must be your sixth Red Bull today. And I know you've had three mugs of coffee. You're probably high on caffeine or something."

"Can you get high on caffeine?" he questioned.

"Of course you can." I waved him off.

"So what you're saying is that having too much caffeine is like taking meth or something?"

"You know what I mean, idiot." I said tiredly. He smirked.

"I know. I just like making things as awkward as possible-"

"-Because you have the mind of a child-"

"-And your pouting face is one of highlights of my life."

I raised an eyebrow with a sneer "A highlight of your entire life? That's really, really sad Herondale."

"I was trying to sentimental." He said defensively, palming my forehead in a completely_ unsentimental_ way, "Why'd you have to shoot me down like that?"

"At least I didn't actually shoot you down. I was seriously thinking about it earlier when you were making fun of me."

"Eh, you don't have to do that. The guy in the bathroom up there with the gun already promised he'd kill me because I mocked his Hawaiian shirt on his way past. Between you and me, I think he's a bit of an unstable hijacker." He whispered theatrically and I punched his arm.

"Stop it. You've had your fun now leave me alone."

"But making fun of you brings me happiness." He said in a sweet voice. I snorted, earning myself an odd look from a couple sat near us.

"What brings me happiness is getting off this plane alive, preferably not suffering a heart attack mid flight because of your stupid jokes."

Jace sat quietly for a while, staring at the small screen that was playing the in-flight movie. I watched as a smirk gradually settled comfortably on his face and tapped his leg.

"What're you grinning about?"

His grin only widened.

"Jace?"

Very slowly, he leaned towards me, his lips resting against the shell of my ear.

"How do you feel about joining the Mile High club?"

Needless to say, I got off the flight in one piece, although I almost couldn't say the same for Jace after that comment. The only reason I kept him in such good condition afterwards was because he had to carry me off the plane because my legs were so shaky after the turbulence we'd met on the descent in to the airport. When I hit solid ground, it was all I could do not to fall to my knees and kiss the floor out of pure joy. The five of them snickered and smirked at me as we wandered our way through the arrivals lounge towards the baggage collection area, but they were all too tired to actually say anything.

It took us almost an hour to collect our cases. Of course, mine had to go missing and turn up at a completely different flight carousel because of some mix up when it was getting unloaded from our plane. It was only by coincidence that Alec spotted my two cases in all their green and blue polka dot glory on his way back from the bathroom.

"Can we leave now?" Simon said tiredly, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, "I need to get to the hotel and sleep."

"You do realise it's two in the afternoon here, don't you? We can't just waste our entire first day in Paris sleeping." Magnus said as we left the airport in search of our driver. A man in a sleek black suit stood not far from where we stood, holding a card with the name 'Lightwood' written on it. I smiled, relieved to have found the guy who was taking us to the hotel and made my way towards him, leaving the others bickering.

"Ah, bonjour, êtes-vous Miss Lightwood?" he said as I stopped in front of him, his face smiling. I raised my eyebrows.

"Uh..."

"Je m'applle Christian. Je vais prendre pour vous à votre hôtel."

"I- uh, oh Jesus," I rolled my eyes at myself and looked over my shoulder. The others were still talking amongst themselves, paying me no mind. I instantly regretted taking Spanish in school and not French. I didn't understand a word he was saying. I turned back to the guy, who was still smiling widely at me, and grimaced.

"Give me a minute," I said, holding up a finger and rushing back to the others.

"- no idea what the hell it says! It's all in French." Isabelle was saying angrily, jabbing Jace in the chest with a frustrated growl and waving a sheet of paper in his face.

"That might have something to do with the fact we're in _France_ Isabelle," Jace griped before she started throwing insults at him.

"Hey, this might sound stupid at this point," I said after catching the end of their conversation, "but does anyone actually know how to speak French?"

The five of them looked at me, dumbfounded.

"Crap." Jace muttered.

* * *

**Let me know what you think :)**

**ML**


	11. Please read, for the sake of our sanity

Hello everyone.

I just wanted to let you all know the story will be continuing very soon. I just needed to take a step back from Clary and Jace's world in both of my fan fic's in order to really want to write them again. I'm sure you can all empathise with that feeling; I was getting bored of what I was writing and lost all of the passion and excitement.

I'm really sorry for the wait, but hopefully the next chapter will make up for my hiatus. I expect it to be done by the end of this week. Once again, thanks for sticking around.

ML.


	12. Hi there, everyone

Okay Guys, so over a year later I'm going to be continuing this story. It's been a mad year. I can't even begin to explain. I'm really sorry for the wait and thank you all for the reviews and messages of encouragement. Sometimes you just have to take a step back and concentrate on your own things.

I'll be graduating from university in like... three months. I'm terrified. But I've gotten back my drive for writing. So keep an eye out guys. The next chapter will be up very soon.

Love, ML.


	13. Parachutes

**Hi There! Finally an update! Thanks for sticking around- like I said, the last year has been crazy. But the good news is I'm writing again, I graduate from university in less than two weeks and I'm happy. This month marks the one year anniversary of my best friend's death which is also the month I stopped writing. I felt like it was fitting to bring out this new chapter now. I hope you enjoy, please review and let me know what you think!**

**I'm glad to be back.**

* * *

**Chapter Song: Parachutes by Charlie Simpson **

**JPOV**

Our suitcases had barely hit the ground before our hands were on each other, roaming and exploring as if we'd never touched each other before. And we hadn't, really. Not in this way; never fully aware of each other like we were in that moment. My body ached with how much I wanted her. Clary backed in to the door, bumping it closed with her hip as she curled her fist around the material of my shirt and pulled me with her against its surface, my body flush against hers. My hand pressed against the cold wood beside her head, trapping her between myself and the door. We paused for a second, taking in the soft click of the automatic lock. I didn't need to ask what she was thinking about. I saw it in her eyes and it echoed my own thoughts.

We were finally alone.

Suddenly I was hyper aware of everything; her breath coming out in short bursts against my neck, the goose bumps rising almost painfully across my skin. She was warm, inviting. I couldn't believe it had taken us this long to be doing this, to be together in this way. For a moment I felt sadness running deep within me for all of the moments I had missed out on over the last six years because of the stupid game I'd initiated. It didn't even make sense to me anymore why I'd ever thought treating her like dirt would be the right way forward in the first place. But then she shifted slightly and brought her lips to mine and none of that seemed to matter anymore. All that mattered was what we were now. I dropped my hands from the door and latched on to her waist, pulling her in to me. Her hands found the hem of my t-shirt and she tugged on it almost unconsciously. I moved my lips to her ear.

"Whatever you want. We can do whatever you want." I said, my voice low and throaty. I heard her breath catch for a second and I could imagine her face turning beet red. I smiled inwardly at the thought. It was _my_ blush. _I_ made her do it. Slowly, hesitantly, she inched my t-shirt up and tugged it over my head, letting it drop to the floor with a light thud. Her fingers lingered on my chest, fluttering and feeling their way over the muscle like only an artist would be able to do. Her wide green eyes slowly met mine and she raised her own arms above her head. An invitation.

"You're sure?" I asked with my barely there voice, never letting my attention wane from her face. My heart was hammering in my chest as she nodded her head once, a small smile playing at the corners of her lips. I felt my own face gain heat, an entirely unusual reaction for me, and suddenly I felt like I was reliving the emotions I'd felt during my first time- the nerves, the excitement, the fear- but amplified. Everything I felt for Clary was more than I'd ever experienced before. So much more. No one had ever been able to make me lose sight of myself like Clary could. When I was with her I had complete tunnel vision. All I could see, hear, breathe and feel was her.

My fingers met the soft material of her sweater and they lingered for a moment, testing the water and gauging her reaction. Her cheeks were burning and her chest was rising and falling heavily but her eyes were blazing with fire. There was something else hidden behind them, too. Behind the lust and nerves and need, there was a challenge. And I'd be damned if I didn't accept it.

I gave up any caution in a heartbeat and yanked the sweater over her head before quickly abandoning it on the floor beside my own t-shirt. My hands wound around her again and our mouths crashed against each other, tasting and exploring hungrily. We moved further in to the room and she pushed with enough force for me to topple backwards on to the bed. She clambered on after me, straddling my hips. I took a second to eye up the black lace bra she was wearing but as much as I appreciated it, it had to go. I had reached around for the clasp, fully intent on discarding it as soon as humanly possible when I heard it, or should I say; heard _him_.

He was stood in the doorway, gripping the spare room key in one hand and his bag in the other; his eyes had nearly bugged out of their sockets. Clary began to scream obscenities at him, scrambling for a pillow to cover up with.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" I yelled, shielding Clary with my own body.

"Oh God it's like watching my own sister get ravished," Simon groaned, finally having the decency to turn away after dropping his bags and covering his eyes with his hands, "This is not right. _This is so not right_."

"Simon Lewis, answer the damn question!" Clary yelled, abandoning her pillow shield in favor of tossing it at the back of Simon's head.

"Oh God, oh God, oh God," he whined, shifting uncomfortably on the spot.

"Simon!"

"You have five seconds to answer the question Lewis, before I drive my fist in to your nose." I said through grit teeth. He let out a sigh, his head tilted to the ceiling.

"I get the feeling you'll be doing that once I've answered the question anyway." He muttered, a grimace evident in his voice.

* * *

"Hey Izzy," I said as I popped a couple of French fries in to my mouth later that evening. She met my eyes slowly and raised an eyebrow, daring me to continue. I swallowed my mouthful and shot her a grin that held no humour, my head cocked to the side.

"How long has it been since I last told you I hate you?"

Her eyes narrowed as she set down her fork.

"It's been five minutes, Jace." She said. Her voice was like needles.

"Oh good, perfect timing," I smiled pleasantly, goading her; "Do you know that I _still_ hate you?"

"Yes Jace. I am fully aware of the fact that you hate me," she bit out. Clary huffed through her nose and shot me a look from her seat opposite but I shrugged it off. I had every right to be pissed, in my opinion.

"I'm glad you're aware. I don't know what I'd do if you forgot."

"You really need to stop acting like a baby." Simon said through a mouthful of food. I grimaced, flicking away a crumb that had flown from his mouth on to my shirt, and brandished my French fry at him like it was a sword.

"Don't you start with me, Lewis. It's bad enough that I'm being forced to play bunk buddies with your scrawny ass without your desperate attempt at sucking up and taking her side. You could at least act a _little_ bit pissed that we're being forced to share a bed for two weeks. It's pretty much your fault I'm in this mess in the first place! If you could keep it in your pants for ten minutes instead of jumping the first girl who walks your way I wouldn't have to put up with this right now." I snapped. Simon balked and glanced at Isabelle out of the corner of his eyes, a frown appearing on his face. Her expression was stony, detached.

"Jesus, if it bothers you that much why don't you just sleep on the floor? I'm sure they'll have camp beds or something, anyway."

"I'm not going to sleep on the floor for two weeks, idiot. It's _my_ room. And I'm not a dog."

"I beg to differ," Isabelle said darkly, her eyes trained on mine. We kept our glares locked on one another for a long minute before Simon stepped in, his voice exasperated.

"What about booking a separate room?"

I rolled my eyes, "Already tried. Hotel is fully booked."

"By all means, go to a different hotel," Isabelle said with a sickly sweet tone to her voice, "or a different city. A different country, even. Just so you know, I'm good with all of the options mentioned."

"And miss spending all of this quality time with you? I'd be mad to leave," I drawled sarcastically.

"Well in that case it looks like we're going to be the cutest couple in Paris for the next fortnight." Simon said, his tone final, and he continued chewing his food. I shot Isabelle a glare, mouthing the words 'I hate you' for good measure. She rolled her eyes and turned away, propping her chin on her hand. I watched Clary pat her knee kindly and felt a new wave of irritation. Why was she sympathizing with the cockblocking harpy?

"I'm going back to my room. I'm tired." Isabelle said quietly after a few awkward minutes of silence. She pushed herself out of her chair, throwing a handful of Euros at the table.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Clary asked. Her forehead was creased with concern. Isabelle shook her head, her long pony tail swinging wildly behind her, and offered Clary a small smile.

"Don't worry about it. I'm going to see my brother for a minute then have a shower and go to sleep. I won't be any fun."

"Okay. Call if you need anything. I'll be up later."

Isabelle smiled again; it looked more like a grimace.

"Thanks. See you all in the morning." She waved feebly, her eyes lingering on Simon for a second too long. I felt bad for her in that moment. Felt bad for him too. Their situation was messed up, and I'd had my fair share of messed up situations with Clary so empathy wasn't much of a struggle. Simon turned away from her stare and closed his eyes as she left, a tiny crease appearing between his eyebrows.

We finished our food quietly. Clary tried to coerce bits of conversation from Simon, her voice overly enthusiastic, but he kept himself quiet and ripped away at his napkin until it was nothing more than a mound of white. We both watched him in-between mouthfuls. I could see Clary was worried; she chewed nervously on her bottom lip and shuffled her food distractedly around her plate.

He stood up abruptly once she'd set her knife and fork down, letting out the breath he'd seemed to be holding since Izzy left.

"I'm going back too."

"You sure? Jace and I were going to go for a walk; you can come with us if you want." Clary offered. Simon shook his head and trained his eyes towards the exit.

"No thanks. I don't want to impose on your alone time anymore than l already have." He said sourly.

"Listen-" I started, intending to apologize for being such a dick about it earlier, but he held up his hand to stop me.

"No I get it. I mean, it's my fault you two have to spilt up and share with me and Iz."

"Seriously, what I said earlier-" I began but he cut me off with a wave of his hand.

"You know what the funny thing is? I don't even know what I did to make her so pissed off anymore. I thought I'd fixed things. I thought she'd finally be happy. Maybe she just enjoys the thought of being with me. Like, now she can have the reality she doesn't want it anymore. I wouldn't be surprised. I wouldn't want me either."

"Don't say things like that," Clary said forcefully, grabbing his hand and giving it a tight squeeze. Simon shook his head and sighed heavily.

"Listen, I'll ask for one of those camp beds to be brought up to the room. You take the real bed. I don't want to impose on you anymore than I already have."

"I can sort that, don't worry."

"No. I'm the one who's messed this entire thing up. I'm the asshole here. I mean, this is supposed to be for Izzy's birthday. What a great way to start the celebrations." He rooted around in his jeans and dropped a few notes on to the table.

"Simon, we don't think you've messed anything up." Clary said softly. He laughed; the sound was completely unlike him. Hollow, humorless. He looked tired.

"Izzy does." He shrugged and left the table. Clary watched his back as he stalked towards the cafe exit, chewing on her bottom lip. She sighed as the door closed behind him and turned her attention to me, her eyes narrow.

"You didn't have to shout at them like that." She griped as she reached for her money. I threw enough Euros down for the pair of us and rolled my eyes as she opened her mouth to argue, handing over her jacket.

"At no point in that conversation did I shout, or raise my voice in any way." I said diplomatically. I held out my hand and she took it absently, saying a polite _au revoir_ to the waiter as he took our bill.

"Fine. You didn't shout, but you were awful. Don't you think the pair of them are feeling bad enough as it is?" she frowned. I sighed and ducked out of the door, in to the crowd of people bustling along the sidewalk. Clary stepped closer to my side and, despite the frown and the irritated pucker of her lips, she rested her head against my shoulder as we walked.

"I know they feel bad," I began, wrapping my arm around her shoulders, "And I know that I was maybe _a little_ harsh, but I'm a greedy, spoilt little brat. I want you to myself- preferably in our own room. Is that so bad?" I said in my most reasonable voice. Clary glanced at me out of the corner of her eyes and grinned a little; just a small tug at the corner of her mouth.

"They're our friends. I know stuff isn't ideal at the minute but you're just going to have to toughen up and wait it out."

"Somehow, you make it sound like I'm some kind of sexual deviant whose lust needs to be satisfied constantly."

"You mean you're not?" she smiled and I laughed, shoving her arm.

"I'm quite capable of keeping my pants on." I said indignantly.

"Sure you are. That's why you pounced on me as soon as we got in to our room earlier."

"As I remember it, the pouncing was quite mutual."

* * *

**CPOV**

For a long time, Jace and I didn't speak. The feel of his hand in my own as we wandered slowly along with the crowds of people up the Champs Élysées was enough. His thumb circled my skin lightly as we took Paris in with silent appreciation; his soft caress grounding me. This all felt so surreal. Paris, Jace; all of it. The entire avenue lit up the night sky with a soft yellow-orange hue; everywhere I looked there were lights. It was breathtaking. I was at peace.

The Arc de Triomphe stood boldly a short distance away. People milled all around it, posing for a near constant stream of photographs and seeing it there in front of me, that monumental piece of architecture that I'd drawn countless times for countless different art teachers, I felt that a photograph could never be enough to capture it. It was just so... I couldn't even find the words. To whole place reeked to me of memories even though I'd never been there in my life. Whispers of smiles, of laughs, or half remembered stories swept through my ears as I took it all in.

"You know," I said softly as we approached the Arc, "We were going to come to Paris when I'd just turned fourteen. Me, mom, dad and Jonathan. Dad said that no young girl should grow up without seeing the City of Light once in their life. We had it all booked and everything."

Jace looked at me out of the corner of his eyes, one eyebrow raised. He looked so radiant standing there beneath the golden shower of street light. I knew he was taken aback by the mention of my dad. I could tell by the look in his eyes that he knew I wasn't talking about Luke.

"Why didn't you come?" he hedged. I felt his grip on my hand grow almost unnoticeably tighter. Almost.

"He got sick before the trip and the doctors told him he wasn't allowed to fly. He tried to convince us to go without him but we couldn't do that so we convinced his specialist to let him have a weekend at home. Jonathan took an entire week away from college and got on a flight from California and we had this French themed weekend where we ate nothing but pastries and baguettes and watched old French movies together. It was one of his last placid moments. He got really sick really quickly after that." My eyes shifted back to the huge arc in front of me, my thoughts on my father. I'd never spoken to Jace about him before. I'd never spoken to any of them about him really; just passing comments to Simon and Izzy on occasion. For instance, they all knew my father had died; that Luke was my step-father. I never went in to details. Standing there beside Jace though, in front of one of my father's favorite pieces of historical architecture, I felt the need to let it all out.

"Dad was crazy about France. He lived here for a few years after he'd finished college and met my mom here when she was on vacation with some friends. He followed her back to the States but she says he never stopped talking about Paris. He tried to teach me the language a few times but I was too caught up in myself and my friends to bother much. I wish I'd listened now." I laughed quietly, thinking back to our realization earlier that not one of us knew any French other than basic greetings and an obscene amount of cusses.

"What happened to him?" Jace asked suddenly and I gave him a look. He squirmed uncomfortably, "I mean, if you don't mind telling me, you don't have to if you don't want too. I'd completely understand-"

I laughed loudly this time, rolling my eyes at him. He frowned and shoved my shoulder.

"I'm serious," he said, "I shouldn't have asked you that so bluntly. You don't have to tell me if you're not comfortable."

"Jace, I wouldn't have told you this much already if I wasn't comfortable with you knowing." I said seriously. We were beneath the archway now. I looked up at the huge structure above me, smiling gravely.

"He developed acute lymphocytic leukemia. We didn't catch it until it was too far on to do much about it. He was offered treatments, but he refused pretty much all of them. My dad was proud. He said he'd rather suck up the pain than become some needle cushion."

"But there could have been a chance-"

"He wasn't one for chances and odds. Never was the betting type. All he said was at least he knew how he was going to die and that's a privilege that few have. He died five months later on his own terms- at least as many of the terms he could negotiate in the end. He wasn't really there by that time, after all. And so we moved to New York, and I met you guys, mom met Luke, and Jonathan's doing God knows what with God knows who and we're as happy as we can be without him. I love my dad; I miss him all the time but he told us not to let our world's stop turning just because he was gone. He'd accepted it and so we had to, too."

Jace stayed quiet for a long time, doing nothing but tracing his perpetual circle on my wrist with his thumb. When he finally met my eyes, he was smiling.

"I have an idea."

I raised an eyebrow, silently questioning him.

"You said he lived here for a few years, right?"

"Right. What are you getting at, Herondale?"

"Why don't we visit his old apartment while we're here? You can see where your dad used to hang out and stuff. Your mom must know where it was, right?"

I frowned, unsure. Being strong about my father's death on my own was one thing, but being confronted with something that was solid, something with a connection to my father… that was part of the reason we'd moved away in the first place.

"I don't know, Jace."

"Come on. I'll be with you. Won't it be good to see a whole different part of him?"

Anger flared up in me suddenly, like a wild fire.

"_I said I don't know_ Jace. Stop pushing." I bit out irrationally, wrenching my hand from his and folding my arms across my chest. Our eyes steeled on one another; mine issuing a challenge and his wary.

"Jesus, it was just an idea. I just thought-"

"You think too damn much," I let out before reaching up and pulling his face to mine. I kissed him angrily, not knowing what exactly I was doing, kissing him at a time like this. But his mouth met my fever equally, kissing me as hard as I was kissing him. His hands found my hair and entwined themselves there as we engaged in an emotional tug-of-war beneath the Arc de Triomphe.

We broke away as quickly as it started, both breathing a little heavier. We stared at each other through narrowed eyes, waiting for the other to back down from the lingering challenge in the air. It was funny, I thought, how we were together now but still everything seemed to turn in to a challenge. Maybe we were still at 'war' with each other. Maybe that's just the kind of people we were. Maybe, though, this time the stakes and values were just a little different. I couldn't help but feel that this time, if I were to lose; I'd have to put up with a little more than a bruised ego and scraped knees.

"I'll think about it," I said evenly after a few minutes. Jace nodded silently and leaned to drop a soft kiss on the top of my head.

"Thank you for telling me." he said simply. I nodded and took his hand in mine, and we began the walk back to the hotel.

* * *

Jace walked me to the room I was sharing with Izzy, leaving me with a sweet, lingering kiss before he turned away, hands in his pockets, and went back to his own room. I entered quietly, scared of waking Izzy. I knew she'd been tired and upset. I didn't want to make her feel any worse.

"Clary?"

I swore internally as the lock clicked loudly in to place. So much for that plan.

"Hey. Sorry if I woke you up." I grimaced in to the darkness. I heard her quiet laugh and the rustle of bed sheets. The bedside light flipped on. Izzy pushed back her hair and grinned.

"Nah. Couldn't sleep."

I dropped my bags, kicked my shoes off and sat down on the bed beside her. She leaned her head against my shoulder, nuzzling in to my hair.

"Want to talk about it?"

She sighed, folding her long legs in front of her as she turned to face me.

"I freaked out. After he told me he'd broken it off with Maia so he could be with me all I felt was this massive ball of panic and it all felt so _real_ and I'm not used to someone putting that much effort in just to be with me, you know? And maybe I'm not cut out for this whole girlfriend thing. It's new territory for me. I don't want to wind up hurting him. 'Cause I'm not good enough for him, you know. I'm not a nice person. I'm actually a crazy bitch, to be perfectly honest. And he's too nice to put up with my crap." The words tumbled out of her mouth as she pulled lightly on the ends of her hair. I gave her a measured look.

"I think it's up to Simon to decide if he can put up with it. And stop pushing him away before you've even started to try, that's just stupid. And you're _not_ stupid."

"But if we've never been able to last more than a couple months before, why would it be different now?"

"Because you're both actually emotionally invested in each other? You, especially. You turned in to a crazy jealous harpy as soon as you saw him with Maia. That counts for something. You never got jealous before."

Isabelle contemplated this for a second.

"You really think I was a harpy?"

"Talons and all." I grinned. She rolled her eyes and flopped back on to the pillows.

"I guess we'll see what happens, then."

"Or," I interjected as I stood to change in to my pajamas, "You could apologize to him tomorrow and maybe everything will be okay."

"That desperate to get in to bed with Blondie?" Isabelle smiled wolfishly.

"No. I am actually looking out for your well being and overall happiness."

"Sure, and your vagina."

"Izzy!"

She laughed loudly and pulled me in to the bed beside her. We lay there quietly for a while and I felt my eyes begin to drop.

"Thanks for coming here with me. And for putting up with these colossal moods I'm swinging." Isabelle said quietly, flipping off the light.

"You're my best friend. It's what I'm here for." I said, patting her hand beneath the sheets and stifling a yawn, "But you seriously need to move your ass over because I swear to God, Lightwood, I'm not fighting you for this bed all night."

"But you know how I love to starfish."

"If you want to starfish, feel free to pull up some floor."

Izzy kicked my foot with hers.

"How was your walk with lover boy, anyway?"

I turned my head towards her, seeing her eyes reflecting a street light in the darkness as she looked at me.

"I told him about my dad. He wants me to go visit his old place here."

"Ah," was all she said before she wriggled closer to me, pulling me in to her and patting my hair down softly. Isabelle got it. She knew I didn't really want to talk about it but just that one small action made me sure she cared, made me sure that she'd be there when I did want to explain.

I fell asleep with Isabelle stroking my hair and dreamed of my father.

* * *

**Thanks for reading, please review!**

**Best, ML**


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